economics in a canadian settingby mark keith inman

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Economics in a Canadian Setting by Mark Keith Inman Review by: H. Ian Macdonald The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science / Revue canadienne d'Economique et de Science politique, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Aug., 1960), pp. 496-497 Published by: Wiley on behalf of Canadian Economics Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/138801 . Accessed: 16/06/2014 14:19 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Wiley and Canadian Economics Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science / Revue canadienne d'Economique et de Science politique. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 185.2.32.121 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 14:19:34 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Economics in a Canadian Settingby Mark Keith Inman

Economics in a Canadian Setting by Mark Keith InmanReview by: H. Ian MacdonaldThe Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science / Revue canadienne d'Economique etde Science politique, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Aug., 1960), pp. 496-497Published by: Wiley on behalf of Canadian Economics AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/138801 .

Accessed: 16/06/2014 14:19

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Wiley and Canadian Economics Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science / Revue canadienne d'Economique et deScience politique.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.121 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 14:19:34 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Economics in a Canadian Settingby Mark Keith Inman

Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science

recommendations? Have conciliation boards concerned themselves mainly with writing accommodative or normative reports? Are any factors common to all or most of the cases in which conciliation boards obtained settlement?

Numerous comparisons are drawn between the experience in New Bruns- wick and the experience in Ontario, yet these comparisons seem to have little value in view of the lack of any attempt to compare the economies, the

strength of union organization, etc., in the two provinces. Indeed, the purpose of introducing the comparison is never made quite clear-at times it would seem that the Ontario experience is to serve as some sort of measure of the success encountered in New Brunswick (p. 83), at times the purpose would seem to be to derive some conclusion regarding the administration of the conciliation procedure (p. 44), and in other cases the comparison seems to be made solely for the sake of comparison (p. 64).

Such criticism, however, is not directed toward the essentials of the book; the reader will probably share the opinion of the writers of the foreword: "a

significant contribution to the literature on conciliation in Canada."

WILLIAM GILLEN

Assumption University of Windsor

Economics in a Canadian Setting. By MARK KEITH INMAN. Toronto: Copp Clark Publishing Company Limited. [1959.] Pp. xii, 771. $6.95.

A learned journal rarely reviews a textbook, but the appearance of a Canadian textbook on economics is a rare event. This book fills a void for those teaching certain aspects of introductory economics in Canadian universities; it is par- ticularly welcome in the areas of elementary national income analysis and international economics where Canadian textbook material has been strictly limited. Together with V. W. Bladen's An Introduction to Political Economy, it will provide an excellent background for first year courses. The events and

subjects chosen by Professor Inman are well arranged. He progresses from a

description of some concepts and economic institutions in Part One, into the reasons for the behaviour of the national economy in Part Two, and finally to a description of the behaviour of the component parts of the economy in Part Three.

One of the shortcomings of Economics in a Canadian Setting as a whole is the distribution and balance of the material. Although there can be no objective standard of order and content in such a book, certain of Professor Inman's divisions are questionable. First, it is doubtful whether the allocation of material between micro-economics and macro-economics is suitable. It is true that international economics can be considered as a part of micro-economics in terms, for example, of the supply and demand analysis of foreign trade and

foreign exchange; however, it is equally reasonable to consider it a part of macro-economics as a factor in the growth of the Gross National Product and a variable bearing on economic development. It is scarcely accidental that most textbooks reserve a separate section for the international economy. Secondly, there are lengthy descriptive sections about certain institutions and

recommendations? Have conciliation boards concerned themselves mainly with writing accommodative or normative reports? Are any factors common to all or most of the cases in which conciliation boards obtained settlement?

Numerous comparisons are drawn between the experience in New Bruns- wick and the experience in Ontario, yet these comparisons seem to have little value in view of the lack of any attempt to compare the economies, the

strength of union organization, etc., in the two provinces. Indeed, the purpose of introducing the comparison is never made quite clear-at times it would seem that the Ontario experience is to serve as some sort of measure of the success encountered in New Brunswick (p. 83), at times the purpose would seem to be to derive some conclusion regarding the administration of the conciliation procedure (p. 44), and in other cases the comparison seems to be made solely for the sake of comparison (p. 64).

Such criticism, however, is not directed toward the essentials of the book; the reader will probably share the opinion of the writers of the foreword: "a

significant contribution to the literature on conciliation in Canada."

WILLIAM GILLEN

Assumption University of Windsor

Economics in a Canadian Setting. By MARK KEITH INMAN. Toronto: Copp Clark Publishing Company Limited. [1959.] Pp. xii, 771. $6.95.

A learned journal rarely reviews a textbook, but the appearance of a Canadian textbook on economics is a rare event. This book fills a void for those teaching certain aspects of introductory economics in Canadian universities; it is par- ticularly welcome in the areas of elementary national income analysis and international economics where Canadian textbook material has been strictly limited. Together with V. W. Bladen's An Introduction to Political Economy, it will provide an excellent background for first year courses. The events and

subjects chosen by Professor Inman are well arranged. He progresses from a

description of some concepts and economic institutions in Part One, into the reasons for the behaviour of the national economy in Part Two, and finally to a description of the behaviour of the component parts of the economy in Part Three.

One of the shortcomings of Economics in a Canadian Setting as a whole is the distribution and balance of the material. Although there can be no objective standard of order and content in such a book, certain of Professor Inman's divisions are questionable. First, it is doubtful whether the allocation of material between micro-economics and macro-economics is suitable. It is true that international economics can be considered as a part of micro-economics in terms, for example, of the supply and demand analysis of foreign trade and

foreign exchange; however, it is equally reasonable to consider it a part of macro-economics as a factor in the growth of the Gross National Product and a variable bearing on economic development. It is scarcely accidental that most textbooks reserve a separate section for the international economy. Secondly, there are lengthy descriptive sections about certain institutions and

496 496

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.121 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 14:19:34 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 3: Economics in a Canadian Settingby Mark Keith Inman

practices but highly perfunctory treatment accorded relatively important matters such as "central banking policy" (p. 201) and "monopolistic competi- tion and the combination movement" (pp. 545-9). Thirdly, the use of brief

catalogues of relevant factors imparts a sense of unevenness. If these were

merely summaries of text that had preceded them, then the technique would be both defensible and useful. Often, however, as in the case of "Remedies for Economic Fluctuations" (p. 273) and "Types of Unemployment" (p. 277), these matters are too important to receive such abbreviated recognition particu- larly since there are long descriptive passages about less vital matters.

Matters of style, language, and printing are particularly important in a book that is to serve as a text. Although his analysis is objective in the usual text- book manner, Professor Inman has happily not thought it necessary to avoid comment on controversial issues, particularly where considerations of public policy are involved. Passages such as the following are lively and refreshing in a textbook as well as offering useful talking points for both student and teacher. "The investigation of General Motors Corporation by the United States Senate Committee, without bringing any specific charges against the

company, illustrates the prevailing suspicion of 'big business.' This activity smacks of witch-hunting. If corporations are to be subject to public investiga- tion simply because they are big, society may be deprived of the benefits

resulting from further economies of large scale production." (pp. 56-7) Although the writing is usually clear and direct, there is an unfortunate awkwardness in the use of such phrases as "be that as it may" and unnecessary triteness in the use of "John Doe." The printing is not superior, and the proof- reading far from perfect; for example, E. P. Neufeld is abused in the spelling on page 208 and again on page 753. A book of 771 pages is perhaps too long for an introductory course, and longer than Inman appears to have promised in the preface; one would have hoped that a Canadian textbook of this sort would at least avoid the too common American practice of undue length.

H. IAN MACDONALD

University of Toronto

What is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies. By LEO STRAUSS. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press. 1959. Pp. 315. $6.00.

PROFESSOR Strauss's latest book is a collection of papers and lectures published over the past decade, supplemented by sixteen book reviews dating from 1941 to 1952. Probably of greatest general interest is the lecture series, delivered in Jerusalem in 1954-5, which gives the book its title and its most forceful theme. In these lectures Professor Strauss restates with particular cogency the fundamental outlook of classical political philosophy, and contrasts this out- look with the development of political thought since Machiavelli. In the first place, he distinguishes sharply between political thought and political philo- sophy. "Political thought is, as such, indifferent to the distinction between opinion and knowledge; but political philosophy is the conscious, coherent and relentless effort to replace opinions about the political fundamentals by

practices but highly perfunctory treatment accorded relatively important matters such as "central banking policy" (p. 201) and "monopolistic competi- tion and the combination movement" (pp. 545-9). Thirdly, the use of brief

catalogues of relevant factors imparts a sense of unevenness. If these were

merely summaries of text that had preceded them, then the technique would be both defensible and useful. Often, however, as in the case of "Remedies for Economic Fluctuations" (p. 273) and "Types of Unemployment" (p. 277), these matters are too important to receive such abbreviated recognition particu- larly since there are long descriptive passages about less vital matters.

Matters of style, language, and printing are particularly important in a book that is to serve as a text. Although his analysis is objective in the usual text- book manner, Professor Inman has happily not thought it necessary to avoid comment on controversial issues, particularly where considerations of public policy are involved. Passages such as the following are lively and refreshing in a textbook as well as offering useful talking points for both student and teacher. "The investigation of General Motors Corporation by the United States Senate Committee, without bringing any specific charges against the

company, illustrates the prevailing suspicion of 'big business.' This activity smacks of witch-hunting. If corporations are to be subject to public investiga- tion simply because they are big, society may be deprived of the benefits

resulting from further economies of large scale production." (pp. 56-7) Although the writing is usually clear and direct, there is an unfortunate awkwardness in the use of such phrases as "be that as it may" and unnecessary triteness in the use of "John Doe." The printing is not superior, and the proof- reading far from perfect; for example, E. P. Neufeld is abused in the spelling on page 208 and again on page 753. A book of 771 pages is perhaps too long for an introductory course, and longer than Inman appears to have promised in the preface; one would have hoped that a Canadian textbook of this sort would at least avoid the too common American practice of undue length.

H. IAN MACDONALD

University of Toronto

What is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies. By LEO STRAUSS. Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press. 1959. Pp. 315. $6.00.

PROFESSOR Strauss's latest book is a collection of papers and lectures published over the past decade, supplemented by sixteen book reviews dating from 1941 to 1952. Probably of greatest general interest is the lecture series, delivered in Jerusalem in 1954-5, which gives the book its title and its most forceful theme. In these lectures Professor Strauss restates with particular cogency the fundamental outlook of classical political philosophy, and contrasts this out- look with the development of political thought since Machiavelli. In the first place, he distinguishes sharply between political thought and political philo- sophy. "Political thought is, as such, indifferent to the distinction between opinion and knowledge; but political philosophy is the conscious, coherent and relentless effort to replace opinions about the political fundamentals by

Reviews of Books Reviews of Books 497 497

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