Capitalism, Democracy, and Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery

個数:

Capitalism, Democracy, and Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery

  • 提携先の海外書籍取次会社に在庫がございます。通常3週間で発送いたします。
    重要ご説明事項
    1. 納期遅延や、ご入手不能となる場合が若干ございます。
    2. 複数冊ご注文の場合、分割発送となる場合がございます。
    3. 美品のご指定は承りかねます。
  • 【入荷遅延について】
    世界情勢の影響により、海外からお取り寄せとなる洋書・洋古書の入荷が、表示している標準的な納期よりも遅延する場合がございます。
    おそれいりますが、あらかじめご了承くださいますようお願い申し上げます。
  • ◆画像の表紙や帯等は実物とは異なる場合があります。
  • ◆ウェブストアでの洋書販売価格は、弊社店舗等での販売価格とは異なります。
    また、洋書販売価格は、ご注文確定時点での日本円価格となります。
    ご注文確定後に、同じ洋書の販売価格が変動しても、それは反映されません。
  • 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版/ページ数 352 p.
  • 言語 ENG
  • 商品コード 9780691090825
  • DDC分類 330.122

基本説明

New in paperback. Hardcover was published in 1999. A bestselling professional title in the 4th quarter 1999 (YBP Library Services). Makes comments that visions of perfect democracy and markets miss the point of how a society can work.

Full Description

Democracy is overrated. Capitalism, on the other hand, doesn't get enough credit. In this provocative and engaging book, John Mueller argues that these mismatches between image and reality create significant political and economic problems--inspiring instability, inefficiency, and widespread cynicism. We would be far better off, he writes, if we recognized that neither system is ideal or disastrous and accepted instead the humdrum truth that both are "pretty good." And, to Mueller, that means good enough. He declares that what is true of Garrison Keillor's fictional store "Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery" is also true of democracy and capitalism: if you can't get what you want there, "you can probably get along without it." Mueller begins by noting that capitalism is commonly thought to celebrate greed and to require discourtesy, deceit, and callousness. However, with examples that range from car dealerships and corporate boardrooms to the shop of an eighteenth-century silk merchant, Mueller shows that capitalism in fact tends to reward behavior that is honest, fair, civil, and compassionate.
He argues that this gap between image and reality hampers economic development by encouraging people to behave dishonestly, unfairly, and discourteously to try to get ahead and to neglect the virtuous behavior that is an important source of efficiency and gain. The problem with democracy's image, by contrast, is that our expectations are too high. We are too often led by theorists, reformers, and romantics to believe that democracy should consist of egalitarianism and avid civic participation. In fact, democracy will always be chaotic, unequal, and marked by apathy. It offers reasonable freedom and security, but not political paradise. To idealize democracy, Mueller writes, is to undermine it, since the inevitable contrast with reality creates public cynicism and can hamper democracy's growth and development. Mueller presents these arguments with sophistication, wit, and erudition. He combines mastery of current political and economic literature with references to figures ranging from Plato to P. T. Barnum, from Immanuel Kant to Ronald Reagan, from Shakespeare to Frank Capra.
Broad in scope and rich in detail, the book will provoke debate among economists, political scientists, and anyone interested in the problems (or non-problems) of modern democracy and capitalism.

Contents

Acknowledgments xi INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I Capitalism and Democracy: Images and Image Mismatches 5 Capitalism 6 Democracy 7 Ralph's Grocery 10 The Plan of the Book 12 CAPITALISM CHAPTER 2 Capitalism's Image 21 The Capitalist Virtues 22 The Capitalist Virtues and the Monopolist 38 The Essential Insincerity of Capitalist Morality 38 My Nice Guys Finish First 42 Extrapolating the Capitalist Virtues 43 Capitalist Culture, Capitalist Inequality and Unfairness, Capitalist Competition 45 The Profound Irrationality of Capitalism: Investors as Unintended Altruists 54 CHAPTER 3 Sources of Capitalism's Negative Image 57 Socialists and Communists 57 storytellers 58 Intellectuals 61 Religion 65 Aristocrats and the Honorable 66 Ineffective Capitalist Propaganda 68 Capitalists 70 CHAPTER 4 The Consequences of Capitalism's Image for Economic Development 72 The Unequal Rate of Economic Development 73 Superimposing the Capitalist Virtues 75 Virtue as a Business Innovation 77 The Rise of Business Virtue 83 The Relative Importance of Business Virtue in Economic Development 93 The Relevance of an Effective Legal System to Economic Development 95 CHAPTER 5 Development, Happiness, and the Rise of the Politically Incorrect One-Handed Economist 99 One-Handedness 100 Political Incorrectness 104 Four Economic Propositions That Have Become Increasingly Accepted 106 The Prospects for Massive Economic Growth 122 Economic Development, Professed Happiness, and the Catastrophe Quota 123 Development and the Quest for Happiness 132 DEMOCRACY CHAPTER 6 Images and Definitions 137 Defining Democracy: Responsive Government 138 Elections: Useful, but Not Essential 140 Political Inequality 145 Democracy in Practice: Coopting the Wealthy 147 Minority Rule and Majority Acquiescence 152 Democracy in Comparison 153 Democracy and Real People 161 CHAPTER 7 Consequences of the Democratic Image 164 Cynicism about the Democratic Process 166 Hyperdemocracy 185 The Rebellion of Minorities 187 The Trouble with Transitology 189 CHAPTER 8 The Rise of Democracy 192 A Democratic Dialogue 193 The Historical Movement of Ideas 195 The Correlates of Democracy 197 The Marketing of Democracy 202 Examining the Third Wave 212 The Future of Democracy 222 CONCLUSION CHAPTER 9 Democracy and Capitalism: Connections and Disconnections 231 Capitalism without Democracy, Democracy without Capitalism 231 Democracy's Connection with Capitalist Prosperity 234 Democracy's Connection to Capitalist Growth 235 The Connection of Democracy and Capitalism with Crime 238 Conceptional Connections between Democracy and Capitalism 240 APPENDIX An Inventory of Propositions 243 Notes 255 References 289 Index 317