ISBN 0-7145-0773-3 (UK pbk)

"In this provocative thesis James Robertson questions some of the most fundamental current economic concepts by examing the social role of money. He argues that the maximization of profit is not a prime motivating force in business nor does it act as a controlling factor. On the contrary, profit is an outmoded pursuit. The money system should be a real mechanism of choice and decision -- a scoring device that enables us to allocate resources and distribute purchasing power in the ways that people want. The present system of controls in industry, finance and government, while not inviting destruction, must be transformed in order to attain effectiveness and credibility. His remedies encompass radical changes in business procedure, the tax system, in the banking and financial sectors, in government, and above all, in the conceptual framework that informs all economic activities.

"This book has grown out of a series of articles that appeared in The Sunday Times under the title 'Can we have a Non-Profit Society?'. James Robertson has first-hand experience of central government, business consultancy, the City of London as a financial centre and British parliamentary politics." [jacket blurb, UK pbk, 1974]

"...an exciting set of ideas... strips away much outworn and tired nomenclature... one of the most elegant and lucid analyses I have yet encountered. Economists, take note and prepare to be outflanked." --Hazel Henderson (in Business and Society Review ).

Recommended.

• Biograph -- James Robertson