ABSTRACT
S. Todd Lowry has aVISIon of economics as the study of administrative or managerial effidency. His position may be viewed as a generalization of the more onhodox view of economics as the study of market effidency. For Lowry, human administrators may or may not use the market. Human administrators will also decide on how the markers will be organized and structured. The market for Lowry is not some naturalistic force outside of human control and management. Efficieney for Lowry means that administrators must make choices about how to achieve ends. These choices will be based upon hedonic, cost -benefit analyses, having to deal with pleasure and pain, or pleasure and non-pleasure. Western economic thought based upon this conception of economics, economics as the study of administrative or managerial efficiency, where efficiency involves the making of hard choices based upon careful hedonic calculations, has a long history. Ir goes back at least as far as the ancient Greeks. It is up to historians of economic thought to rediscover, explore, and develop this ancient, rieh heritage. In effeet, Lowry has an extensive research program which he invites the rest of the disdpline of the history of economic thought to pursue.
