All of the essays in this new collection by Thomas Schelling convey his unique perspective on individuals and society. Schelling, a 2005 Nobel Prize winner, has been one of the four or five most important social scientists of the past fifty years, and this collection shows why.

All of the essays in this new collection by Thomas Schelling convey his unique perspective on individuals and society. Schelling, a 2005 Nobel Prize winner, has been one of the four or five most important social scientists of the past fifty years, and this collection shows why.

Analyzes the nature of international disagreements and conflict resolution in terms of game theory and non-zero-sum games.

Thomas Schelling is a political economist “conspicuous for wandering”—an errant economist. In Choice and Consequence, he ventures into the area where rationality is ambiguous in order to look at the tricks people use to try to quit smoking or lose weight. He explores topics as awesome as nuclear terrorism, as sordid as blackmail, as ineffable as daydreaming, as intimidating as euthanasia. He examines ethical issues wrapped up in economics, unwrapping the economics to disclose ethical issues that are misplaced or misidentified. With an ingenious, often startling approach, Schelling brings new perspectives to problems ranging from drug abuse, abortion, and the value people put on their lives to organized crime, airplane hijacking, and automobile safety. One chapter is a clear and elegant exposition of game theory as a framework for analyzing social problems. Another plays with the hypothesis that our minds are not only our problem-solving equipment but also the organ in which much of our consumption takes place. What binds together the different subjects is the author’s belief in the possibility of simultaneously being humane and analytical, of dealing with both the momentous and the familiar. Choice and Consequence was written for the curious, the puzzled, the worried, and all those who appreciate intellectual adventure.

John Maurice Clark’s article “The Changing Basis of Economic Responsibility,“ published in the Journal of Political Economy, is the topical starting point for all scholars interested in economic responsibility and responsible economic action. John Maurice Clark (1884-1963), a leading institutional economist, reflected on the consequences of the social and economic change taking place at the turn of the last century for the responsibility of individuals, businesses, and corporations and called for the development of an economics of responsibility. This book contains in-depth articles by scholars from within and beyond economics who continue on the Clark project or address actual problems calling for economic responsibility in the light of his approach.

This book explores realist theories—also called power politics approaches, formulations of systems theories, and game theory in International Relations (IR). The first section of the book focuses on theories of Early Classical Realism—Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Hobbes, and two Asian exponents—Kautilya and Han Fei Tzu. It covers the rise and fall of different schools of imperial geopolitics including those developed during the Cold-War and postmodern periods. It also discusses theories proposed by three stalwarts of Neoclassical Realism— Niebuhr, Carr, and Morgenthau; the Neorealism of Waltz; Strategic Realism of Schelling; and Offensive Realism of Mearsheimer. The book also examines theoretic formulations of Kaplan, Modelski, Rosecrance, McClelland, Holsti, and Singer, as well as game theory and its relevance and application in international relations. It explores diverse variants of theories of power in international relations through a critical readings of texts and IR literature. This book will be of interest to researchers and students of political science, international relations, history and law.

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