Capitalist Development in the Twentieth Century

John Cornwall, FRSC, is Professor Emeritus in the Economics Department, Dalhousie University. Wendy Cornwall is Professor of Economics in the Economics Department at Mount Saint Vincent University.

• List of figures; List of tables; Foreword David Colander; Preface; Part I. Framework: 1. Economic development and economic performance; 2. The stylized facts; 3. The neoclassical analysis of unemployment; 4. An extended Keynesian model; 5. Institutions and power; 6. Evolutionary and hysteretic processes; 7. Theories of capitalist development; Part II. Explaining the Development Record: 8. Understanding the Great Depression; 9. Foundations of the golden age; 10. The golden age; 11. Unemployment; Part III. Political Control of the Economy: 12. Unemployment and the distribution of power; 13. A neoliberal future?; Bibliography; Index.

'In this well-structured book [the authors] present, in a wonderfully clear style, a framework that 'explains' the stylized facts of macroeconomic development of the industrial nations during the last 100 years. They consider these stylized facts in historical sequence, arguing that the facts trace out a pattern of alternating episodes of poor and superior macroeconomic performance. The framework they use is evolutionary; it is neither completely self-regulating nor knife-edge. The system adapts, but adapts slowly, to events and disturbances. Using their updated, evolutionary model, they explain the past and give us insight into the future. It is a sensible blend of institutional knowledge and analytic understanding. It is insightful, instructive, and will give the reader an excellent sense of what the real issues in macro are.' David Colander, Middlebury College