Growth, Employment, Inequality, and the Environment: Unity of Knowledge in Economics: Volume II

The second volume of Growth, Employment, Inequality, and the Environment continues dealing with the fundamental economic problems of our time: employment, inequality, the environment, and quality of life. This volume takes on the long-term effects of growth and analyzes the policy aspect of these effects.

Figueroa achieves his goal by addressing two significant problems. First, to solve the epistemological challenges of building unity of knowledge, he presents a unified theory of capitalism. Second, he considers the epistemological problem of the role of theory in scientific knowledge. This book therefore deals with a consistent theoretical system. That having been said, these theories—which contain logically correct propositions—may turn out to be empirically false. In order to avoid this error, some rules of scientific knowledge are needed. Growth, Employment, Inequality, and the Environment presents a method that contains such rules. The method is derived from the Popperian epistemology, making it operational in economics. The proposed unified theory is therefore empirically valid; it is a good approximation of the real world. Theoretical economics is thus treated under explicit epistemological rules: theory is the servant, not the master.

Table of Contents

Part I: The Long Run: Growth And Distribution
Chapter 1 Toward A Unified Theory Of Capitalism
Chapter 2 Education And Human Capital Formation
Chapter 3 The Epsilon Society: A Dynamic Model
Chapter 4 The Omega Society: A Dynamic Model
Chapter 5 The Sigma Society: A Dynamic Model
Chapter 6 Unified Theory Of Capitalism: A Growth And Distribution Mode

Part II: The Very Long Run: Economic Growth And The Environment
Chapter 7 Economic Growth Under Environmental Stress
Chapter 8 Land Resources And Food Supply
Chapter 9 Economic Growth And Quality Of Society
Chapter Part Iii: The Political Economy Of The Unified Theory
Chapter 10 Science-Based Public Policies