Jeremy Bentham
- A Fragment on Government (1776)
- The Rationale of Reward (1825)Once again, not really pure economic theory. Bentham is what is known as a 'Utilitarian'. Basically they see the purpose of society to provide 'the greatest good for the greatest number'. This has obvious links to socialism. Bentham is extremely important in many areas (Jurisprudance, Economics, Philosophy in general [utilitarianism being a major 'event' in philosophy]), and, as with More, reading his stuff is a good basis for reading in many areas.Robert Owen
- Observations on the Effect of the Manufacturing System (1815)
- "Evidence on New Lanark" (Parliamentary Papers, 1815)
- A New View of Society (1816)
- Report to the County of Lanark (1821)
- Lectures on an Entire New State of Society (1830). Owen is a major figure in socialism. He set up his own community (New Lanark, hence the name of most of the works), which provided amazing worker benefits (stuff like childcare, health, housing, etc). Much of what he did is now commonplace, showing just how advanced he was (in his time, he was seen as radical for banning children under 10 from working).
Thomas Hodgskin
- Popular Political Economy (1828)
Basically a socialism textbook. Hodgskin is a rather confused figure. His work as a whole isn't as coherant as most of the others I have/will mention, but this work is worth reading.John Gray
- Lecture on Human Happiness (1825)
- The Social System (1831)
- Money (1848)
He was one of the first to look into the human cost of competition.John Francis Bray
- Labour's Wrongs and Labour's Remedy (1839)Ferdinand Lassalle
- Gesammelte Reden und Schriften (1920)I'm not sure if this is available in english. I really should know, but it's one of those things I've not gotten around to. Anyway, Lassalle is an important figure in socialism (as I mentioned in my first post). Contemporary of Marx, but he disagreed with the concept of 'Scientific Socialism' (Marxism, basically).
Works on Lassalle would probably be a good idea. Unfortunately, my reading on Lassalle has all been part of larger works. I plan on looking for a good work on Lassalle himself in the near future. When I find a good one, I'll post it.
Karl Marx (duh ).
- Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848)
Obviously very important. It's a fairly easy read, not too long. I'd suggest that if you were to read only 1 Marx work, that this be it [due to the fact that Das Kapital is far more difficult to get through, and a lot longer]
- Theories of Surplus Value (1861-3, in 3 volumes)
- Capital: Critique of political economy ['Das Kapital']
-- Volume One (1867)
-- Volume Two (1885)
-- Volume Three (1894)
(2 & 3 published post-humously)This is the big one. Das Kapital is Communism in it's totality. If you want to really know what it's all about, this is where to go.
I don't really think that you need to get into the later Marxist works, because, to be perfectly honest, Das Kapital is full of holes [not just his famous misjudgement of human nature. Communism does not work in theory, despite what 'everyone knows'.].Now, the important thing: The vast majority of socialist policy is not based at all on Marx, and only influenced (with some exceptions) by the others I mentioned above.
Modern socialism is based firmly in capitalism [as an engine of growth].
For this reason, I'll provide you with some Keynesian works. Generally, these are significantly more important (besides your parents, Keynes is probably the person who has had the most influence on your life, even if you haven't heard of him).John Maynard Keynes
- The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919)
This is mainly for historical purposes. Anyone interested in ww1 and/or ww2 should read this. It shows that some of those present at Versailles knew exactly how ridiculous the treaty was.
- Laissez Faire and Communism (1926)
A good way to examine the integration or lack thereof.
- General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936)
This is the economic work of the century. It utterly shook economics to it's core, and rebuilt it on Keynesian lines. This work shaped economic policy almost exclusively until the mid-70's (most notably through work such as the Marshall Plan, and the creation of the IMF). It [and his earlier writings on the issues he addressed here] is the reason why economists are involved in policy, and in most major componies. He is the father of economics as we know it, and this was the official birth. It's a difficult read, but if at some point in the future you feel very confident with your economics, then read it. You will come across many things that were born in this work if you ever study economics.Paul Samuelson
- Foundations of Economic Analysis (1947)
- Economics: An introductory analysis (1948).
This is the economics textbook. Basically Keynesianism synthesised with neoclassicism (free markets and the like). He created the famous (to economists at least) Keynesian graphs. This was the major college economics text for about 25 years, it is still the most sucessful economics textbook ever.I would suggest reading some of his work before trying Keynes stuff. Reason being that it's far easier to understand, and his modifications are vital to modern Keynesianism.
Just to emphasise how good Sameulson was, after his dissertation defence, Schumpeter turned to Leontief and asked, "Well, Wassily, have we passed?".
[Those 2 are 2 of the most famous economists of the 20th century].Amartya Sen
(I can't mention him continually and leave him out ).
- Collective Choice and Social Welfare (1970)
- On Economic Inequality (1973)
- Choice, Welfare and Measurement (1982)
- Utilitarianism and Beyond (1982) (With Bernard Williams)
- On Ethics and Economics (1987)
Ok, now the anti-Rand stuff:Murray N. Rothbard - The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult
Now I'll just give you some links here. This is basically just a general overview of the opposition. I'll see if I can find some more respected philosophical works dealing with it (it's difficult to find, because there was little academic work provided to object to).
[ulr=http://world.std.com/~mhuben/critobj.html]Criticisms of Objectivism (or Ayn Rand).[/url]
Historical data show a strong correlation between US involvement in international situations and an increase in terrorst attacks against the United States. -
CATO Institute, 1998Perseus wore a magic cap so that the monsters he hunted might not see him. We draw the magic cap down over our own eyes and ears so as to deny that there are any monsters -
Karl MarxÉcrasez l'infâme