Capital and Capitalism The Role of Economic Calculation in the Market Economy

Lists of figures

Preface

Introduction

1. Capital in conventional economic theory

2. Capital in actual business life

3. Economic calculation

4. The societal role of capital in capitalism

5. The theoretical foundations of value-orientation

6. Value-orientation as a misplaced blueprint for economic practice

7. Conclusion

References

Index

Biography

Eduard Braun holds a PhD from the University of Angers (France) and is an associate professor of economics at Clausthal University of Technology (Germany). He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on financial accounting and the economic theory of capital. His interdisciplinary research combines insights from the Austrian and Institutionalist Schools of economics to better understand the institutions that are fundamental to capitalist societies. A key aim of his work is to ground the theory of capital in the realities of business life, moving beyond abstract concepts and models.

“Eduard Braun provides a major service by bringing into English some important German and Austrian contributions to our understanding of capital and capitalism. From different viewpoints, economists such as Marx, Menger, Mises, Schumpeter and Sombart developed perspectives on capital and economic calculation that can help to reinvigorate economic analysis today.”

Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Emeritus Professor in Management at Loughborough University, London.

“In his penetrating essay on Capital and Capitalism, Dr Eduard Braun dissects the inner workings of modern financial markets. He brilliantly connects the dots between economic calculation, homo economicus, the separation of ownership and control, and the deliberate maximisation of shareholder value.”

J. G. Hülsmann, Professor at the Université d'Angers.