The Empire of Value

A New Foundation for Economics

Business & Finance, Economics, Economic Conditions
Cover of the book The Empire of Value by André Orléan, The MIT Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: André Orléan ISBN: 9780262323918
Publisher: The MIT Press Publication: June 6, 2014
Imprint: The MIT Press Language: English
Author: André Orléan
ISBN: 9780262323918
Publisher: The MIT Press
Publication: June 6, 2014
Imprint: The MIT Press
Language: English

An argument that conceiving of economic value as a social force makes it possible to develop a new and more powerful theory of market behavior.

With the advent of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the economics profession itself entered into a crisis of legitimacy from which it has yet to emerge. Despite the obviousness of their failures, however, economists continue to rely on the same methods and to proceed from the same underlying assumptions. André Orléan challenges the neoclassical paradigm in this book, with a new way of thinking about perhaps its most fundamental concept, economic value.

Orléan argues that value is not bound up with labor, or utility, or any other property that preexists market exchange. Economic value, he contends, is a social force whose vast sphere of influence, amounting to a kind of empire, extends to every aspect of economic life. Markets are based on the identification of value with money, and exchange value can only be regarded as a social institution. Financial markets, for example, instead of defining an extrinsic, objective value for securities, act as a mechanism for arriving at a reference price that will be accepted by all investors. What economists must therefore study, Orléan urges, is the hold that value has over individuals and how it shapes their perceptions and behavior.

Awarded the prestigious Prix Paul Ricoeur on its original publication in France in 2011, The Empire of Value has been substantially revised and enlarged for this edition, with an entirely new section discussing the financial crisis of 2007–2008.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

An argument that conceiving of economic value as a social force makes it possible to develop a new and more powerful theory of market behavior.

With the advent of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the economics profession itself entered into a crisis of legitimacy from which it has yet to emerge. Despite the obviousness of their failures, however, economists continue to rely on the same methods and to proceed from the same underlying assumptions. André Orléan challenges the neoclassical paradigm in this book, with a new way of thinking about perhaps its most fundamental concept, economic value.

Orléan argues that value is not bound up with labor, or utility, or any other property that preexists market exchange. Economic value, he contends, is a social force whose vast sphere of influence, amounting to a kind of empire, extends to every aspect of economic life. Markets are based on the identification of value with money, and exchange value can only be regarded as a social institution. Financial markets, for example, instead of defining an extrinsic, objective value for securities, act as a mechanism for arriving at a reference price that will be accepted by all investors. What economists must therefore study, Orléan urges, is the hold that value has over individuals and how it shapes their perceptions and behavior.

Awarded the prestigious Prix Paul Ricoeur on its original publication in France in 2011, The Empire of Value has been substantially revised and enlarged for this edition, with an entirely new section discussing the financial crisis of 2007–2008.

More books from The MIT Press

Cover of the book Mobile Communication and Society by André Orléan
Cover of the book Big Data, Little Data, No Data by André Orléan
Cover of the book Unlocking Energy Innovation by André Orléan
Cover of the book The Consciousness Paradox by André Orléan
Cover of the book The Continued Exercise of Reason by André Orléan
Cover of the book On Computing by André Orléan
Cover of the book Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities by André Orléan
Cover of the book Vulnerability in Technological Cultures by André Orléan
Cover of the book Ethics in Everyday Places by André Orléan
Cover of the book Democratizing Innovation by André Orléan
Cover of the book The Chinese Typewriter by André Orléan
Cover of the book Advice for a Young Investigator by André Orléan
Cover of the book You'll see this message when it is too late by André Orléan
Cover of the book Introduction to Computation and Programming Using Python by André Orléan
Cover of the book Debugging Game History by André Orléan
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy