Geoffrey Hodgson Knihy

"In this book, one of the most respected experts on the conceptual definition of capitalism traces its origins to England and shows the massive transformation that took place in the country until the early nineteenth century. This book considers the reasons for the dramatic rise in economic activity and offers a conceptual framework to help to explain the evolution of the foundational institutions of English capitalism. Hodgson's unique perspective lies in his understanding of capital as finance and not goods, and he shows how in this light what was developed in Britain in the eighteenth century was capitalism. For Hodgson the central importance lies in institutions that enable the raising of money for innovation and investment, but he argues economists have paid insufficient attention to the institutional conditions required. This book offers a novel and authoritative account of the events and processes that led to the consolidation of capitalism in England, whose features were copied and adapted by other countries around the world"--

Of paramount importance to the natural sciences, the principles of Darwinism, which involve variation, inheritance, and selection, are increasingly of interest to social scientists as well. But no one has provided a truly rigorous account of how the principles apply to the evolution of human society—until now. In Darwin’s Conjecture , Geoffrey Hodgson and Thorbjørn Knudsen reveal how the British naturalist’s core concepts apply to a wide range of phenomena, including business practices, legal systems, technology, and even science itself. They also critique some prominent objections to applying Darwin to social science, arguing that ultimately Darwinism functions as a general theoretical framework for stimulating further inquiry. Social scientists who adopt a Darwinian approach, they contend, can then use it to frame and help develop new explanatory theories and predictive models. This truly pathbreaking work at long last makes the powerful conceptual tools of Darwin available to the social sciences and will be welcomed by scholars and students from a range of disciplines.