Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Fred Block in his book "Postindustrial Possibilities: A Critique of Economic Discourse" states that today's society has passed the industrial stage and has moved onto a new nameless stage. The author points out that, according to Block, the postindustrial trends are the increasing importance of services and decreased importance in goods, computer-based automation and a less patriarchal society. The paper relates that, in addition to including traditional economists such as Marx, the social economist Karl Paul Polanyi is referenced often in this book. The author underscores that the book includes ideas of Ruth Cowan, who believes that domestic work is not taken into account in the GNP, which makes the output status somewhat inapt. The paper agrees with Block's conclusion that society desires objects of qualitative over quantitative.

From the Paper:

"The chapter on labor showed that skill has actually increased since the 1970s even though robots and computers have been replacing human labor. People today become extremely knowledgeable on very little - we are all specialized. The capacity to work is a socially produced - it is not instinctive. The argument that economists do not properly analyze contemporary production is based on theoretical, empirical, and alternative views to the efficiency of labor."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Block, Fred. 1990. Postindustrial Possibilities: A Critique of Economic Discourse. University of California Press.

Visitors who viewed this Book Review also liked these:

• Analytical Essay # 109807 : "A Critique of Barak Obama's Speaking Abilities."
• Analytical Essay # 135656 : "A Critique of Travis Hirschi's Control Theory"
• Book Review # 101855 : "A Critique of Playwright Judith Thompson's "Lion in the Streets"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: