Overview

Contemporary mainstream economists see social wealth as the sum of individual incomes, but for three centuries many economists saw wealth as consisting of the public and private resources of a nation. This led them to explore the idea of unproductive labour, which provides a nation with an individual income, but does not contribute to an increase in social wealth or help to foster development. This book analyses the evolution of ideas surrounding unproductive labour, offering an unprecedented history that guides readers from the work of Petty through to the present economic crisis. This volume explores the work of several key scholars, including Smith, Petty, Marx, Ricardo, Mill, Say and Schumpeter. This book is suitable for scholars and researchers with an interest in the history of economic thought, labour economics and economic philosophy. Winner of the 2019 Ernest Lluch Prize from the Spanish Association of Economic History

Full Product Details

Author:   Cosimo Perrotta (University of Salento, Italy)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.530kg
ISBN:  

9780367666446

ISBN 10:   0367666448
Pages:   270
Publication Date:   30 September 2020
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

I - Introduction: what is unproductive labour, II - Unproductive labour before Smith, III - Physiocracy: labour productive of surplus - Condillac, IV - Adam Smith: the struggle against rent, V - Supporters of Smith on unproductive labour, VI - Critics of Smith on services and intellectual labour, VII - The subjective approach (all labour productive), VIII - The deadlock of unproductive consumption, X - Underconsumption and crises, X - Technical progress, XI - Marx’s blind alley on unproductive labour, XII - Investment in human capital, XIII - Overproduction versus underconsumption, XIV - Fall and revival of Smith’s distinction, XV - Crises and underconsumption in Marx and his followers, XVI - Productiveness of public expenditures, XVII - Productive labour in the 1960s-70s Marxist thought, XVIII - New middle classes and human capital, XIX - The welfare state as investment in human capital, XX - Saturation: the growth of unproductive labour, XXI - The future of productive labour

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Winner of the 2019 Ernest Lluch Prize from the Spanish Association of Economic History

Author Information

Cosimo Perrotta is a retired Professor of the History of Economic Thought at the University of Salento, Italy

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