ABSTRACT

I have set myself, in this book, to acquaint the reader with some of the mental apparatus designed to help us in elucidating economic affairs. In order to do so, it proved convenient to discuss two alternative forms of economic organization, of which the first was central planning, the second competitive private enterprise. It is natural that our argument should be rounded off by some reference to the strengths, and the weaknesses, of these alternative systems. Inevitably, this must lead us to cross the boundaries of formal theorizing, but a good economist has to acquire a sense of where these boundaries lie and of what lies beyond them.