Richard D. Wolff

In an incredibly informative compilation, Professor Richard Wolff and Professor Resnick provide an updated comparative study of "The Big Three" economic models – Neoclassical, Keynsian and Marxian.

The book is summarized as an introductory economics text and certainly meets such expectations. From the seemingly unquestionable mathematics of Neoclassicism to the social and political analyses of Marxism and all the mediating principles of Keynsian theory in between – indeed, nearly every fundamental facet of these complex theories is covered in immense and, at times, dense detail.

However, there are moments where the authors can come off as too understanding, where certain passages turn into tangents reminding the reader of the author's strong intent at nonpartisanship. While these are frequent throughout the text, they merely add a fluff to what is otherwise a well formulated and (as much as it can be) unbiased presentation and comparison of today's dominant economic theories.

I would highly recommend this title to anyone seeking a non-trivial introduction to economics in its truest sense.… (more)

The author doesn't have the balls to call his book communism at work but that would be a more apt title. Capitalism has been examined to death and we know about all its shortcomings so there is not much new here. The idea of worker run businesses is not exactly groundbreaking either. Maybe the idea of excluding cleaners from the surplus appointing committee is new (if somewhat wacky).

What annoys me about these books is that they never offer a critical approach to what they are proposing (at least this one has a comment at the end that flaws in this solution inevitably exist). Why not strain your enormous brain a little and discuss some potential ones? For example the main problem with all these utopian solutions I can immediately see is that they all start with the delusional premise that people will act in a coordinated and selfless way like ants. The reason capitalism works is that it starts off with the opposite premise. And it works because that's the reality.… (more)

After re-reading this book rather rapidly, I remember that I don't disagree with most of what he says. His critiques of capitalism and of how capitalism works in the United States are correct I believe, however, I believe that his Solutions are missing a lot, because they leave out anyone who is unable to work for various reasons. The idea of workers cooperatives also assume that all of the Personalities in The Cooperative Venture are equally strong, which is not necessarily the case. Many reasons, we need both a federal jobs guarantee and a basic social income or basic citizens income as called for by dr. Martin Luther King jr. in addition to workers cooperatives.… (more)