Overview

Microeconomics: A Critical Companion offers students a clear and concise exposition of mainstream microeconomics from a heterodox perspective. Covering topics from consumer and producer theory to general equilibrium to perfect competition, it sets the emergence and evolution of microeconomics in both its historical and interdisciplinary context. From the culmination of 40 years of teaching, research and policy advice on political economy, Ben Fine critically exposes the methodological and conceptual content of dominant microeconomic models without sacrificing the technical detail required for those completing a first degree in economics or entering postgraduate study. The result is a book which is sure to establish a strong presence on undergraduate reading lists and in comparative literature on the subject.

Full Product Details

9780745336077

Table of Contents

Reviews

Almost a decade after a crisis that mainstream economists thought was impossible, they continue to peddle the same basic theories of equilibrium and money neutrality. Students who are justifiably dissatisfied with this fare should consult these books, which distill Ben Fine's 40 years of being a thorn in the side of mainstream economics. -- Steve Keen, author of Debunking Economics (Zed, 2011) Building on his years of experience, Fine has created an accessible and rich resource for those who appreciate critical and creative approaches. This and its companion macroeconomics volume contain numerous valuable insights for the serious student of economics. They go a long way towards countering the paring down of economics as presented in mainstream texts. -- Stuart Birks, head of the World Economics Association's Textbook Commentaries Project, author of Rethinking economics: From Analogies to the Real World (Springer, 2015) and 40 Critical Pointers for Students of Economics (WEA Press, 2015) These wonderful volumes are what many teachers and students of economics have been waiting for - textbooks that are logical, critical, accessible and relevant. Designed to encourage understanding rather than mechanical application of techniques, they will help readers to develop a framework that allows them to understand what is actually going on in economies today. -- Professor Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University Ben Fine has written the book that I wish I could have read as a graduate student. Its insightful critiques of mainstream theory will be even more important to those of today's generation of students seeking to cast off the intellectual blinders from their training. -- Rod Hill, University of New Brunswick and co-author of The Economics Anti-Textbook: A Critical Thinkers Guide to Microeconomics (Zed, 2010) Ben Fine has done a splendid job of critically challenging the microeconomic foundations of the new conventional wisdom in a manner accessible to intermediate level students of economics. -- Jomo Kwame Sundaram, former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for economic analysis (2005-2015), recipient of Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought (2007)

Almost a decade after a crisis that mainstream economists thought was impossible, they continue to peddle the same basic theories of equilibrium and money neutrality. Students who are justifiably dissatisfied with this fare should consult these books, which distil Ben Fine's 40 years of being a thorn in the side of mainstream economics. -- Steve Keen, author of Debunking Economics (Zed, 2011) Building on his years of experience, Fine has created an accessible and rich resource for those who appreciate critical and creative approaches. This and its companion macroeconomics volume contain numerous valuable insights for the serious student of economics. They go a long way towards countering the paring down of economics as presented in mainstream texts. -- Stuart Birks, head of the World Economics Association's Textbook Commentaries Project, author of Rethinking economics: From Analogies to the Real World (Springer, 2015) and 40 Critical Pointers for Students of Economics (WEA Press, 2015) These wonderful volumes are what many teachers and students of economics have been waiting for - textbooks that are logical, critical, accessible and relevant. Designed to encourage understanding rather than mechanical application of techniques, they will help readers to develop a framework that allows them to understand what is actually going on in economies today. -- Professor Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University Ben Fine has written the book that I wish I could have read as a graduate student. Its insightful critiques of mainstream theory will be even more important to those of today's generation of students seeking to cast off the intellectual blinders from their training. -- Rod Hill, University of New Brunswick and co-author of The Economics Anti-Textbook: A Critical Thinkers Guide to Microeconomics (Zed, 2010) Ben Fine has done a splendid job of critically challenging the microeconomic foundations of the new conventional wisdom in a manner accessible to intermediate level students of economics. -- Jomo Kwame Sundaram, former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for economic analysis (2005-2015), recipient of Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought (2007)

Almost a decade after a crisis that mainstream economists thought was impossible, they continue to peddle the same basic theories of equilibrium and money neutrality. Students who are justifiably dissatisfied with this fare should consult these books, which distill Ben Fine's 40 years of being a thorn in the side of mainstream economics. -- Steve Keen, author of Debunking Economics (Zed, 2011)

Almost a decade after a crisis that mainstream economists thought was impossible, they continue to peddle the same basic theories of equilibrium and money neutrality. Students who are justifiably dissatisfied with this fare should consult these books, which distil Ben Fine's 40 years of being a thorn in the side of mainstream economics. -- Steve Keen, author of Debunking Economics (Zed, 2011) Building on his years of experience, Fine has created an accessible and rich resource for those who appreciate critical and creative approaches. This and its companion macroeconomics volume contain numerous valuable insights for the serious student of economics. They go a long way towards countering the paring down of economics as presented in mainstream texts. -- Stuart Birks, head of the World Economics Association's Textbook Commentaries Project, author of Rethinking economics: From Analogies to the Real World (Springer, 2015) and 40 Critical Pointers for Students of Economics (WEA Press, 2015) These wonderful volumes are what many teachers and students of economics have been waiting for - textbooks that are logical, critical, accessible and relevant. Designed to encourage understanding rather than mechanical application of techniques, they will help readers to develop a framework that allows them to understand what is actually going on in economies today. -- Professor Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University Ben Fine has written the book that I wish I could have read as a graduate student. Its insightful critiques of mainstream theory will be even more important to those of today's generation of students seeking to cast off the intellectual blinders from their training. -- Rod Hill, University of New Brunswick and co-author of The Economics Anti-Textbook: A Critical Thinkers Guide to Microeconomics (Zed, 2010) A comprehensive critique of all mainstream economic theories and models. This makes it an invaluable antidote to the conventional poison of marginalism and general equilibrium theory in microeconomics; and Say's law and the denial of crises or slumps in macroeconomics. -- Michael Roberts Ben Fine has done a splendid job of critically challenging the microeconomic foundations of the new conventional wisdom in a manner accessible to intermediate level students of economics. -- Jomo Kwame Sundaram, former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for economic analysis (2005-2015), recipient of Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought (2007)

Author Information

Ben Fine is Professor of Economics at SOAS, University of London. He is the author of the critical texts, Macroeconomics and Microeconomics (Pluto, 2016), co-author of Marx's 'Capital' (Pluto, 2016) and co-editor of Beyond the Developmental State (Pluto, 2013). He was awarded both the Deutscher and Myrdal Prizes in 2009. Ben Fine is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and Visiting Professor, Wits School of Governance, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He has published over thirty books (one of which won the Deutscher Prize and another the Myrdal Prize) and three hundred articles. He is the founding Chair of IIPPE (the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy) and has acted as economic advisor to many organisations. He is an acknowledged international authority across fields such as Marxist political economy, history of economic thought, heterodox economics, economics imperialism, social capital, social choice theory, development economics and studies, the British economy and coal industry, consumption studies and South Africa.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available