Economics, Principles and Problems. by Lionel D. EdieReview by: Clyde Olin FisherSocial Forces, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Mar., 1928), pp. 497-498Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3004888 .

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LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP 497

his function to look far into the future. "The economist," he tells us "performs his great service when his descriptions of present and past tendencies are accurate, and when his interpretations are limited to the present, the past or the immediate future."

If the book is broad enough in scope to justify the title "Labor Economics" it is still not a Labor Sociology, as the slight treatment of immigration and the virtual omission of the population question indi- cate. Though some may object to the author's long paragraphs and find the book in general rather tough going, no one at all familiar with the subject can help being struck with the essential freshness of the attack and the vigor of the criticism. The argument no less than the style is often difficult; the writer continually blurs the outline and seems almost incapable of making a generaliza- tion unless he qualify it. He is a true Aristotelian. But Aristotle had at least the qualities of his defects. And Blum's study is the one to which those who have time for only one book on the sub- ject will undoubtedly turn.

HORACE B. DAVIS.

ECONOMICS, PRINCIPLES AND PROBLEMS. By Lionel D. Edie. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, i92.6, xx + 72X9 pp-

Far too often in the past have econ- omists in writing their books ignored the conditions of the actual society in which they lived. The hypothetical society of the text books has not had a very close connection with the body of which we are a part. It is against this tendency, in particular, that Professor Edie has shown a strong reaction. He has made use of the vast body of material existing in mono- graphic form and has attempted to weld this information into and to harmonize it

with the generalizations of classical eco- nomics. Professor W. C. Mitchell in the Foreword to the book, says ".9.. . .he has tried to present eco- nomics, neither as a body of abstract principles, nor as a series of separate problems, but as a growing body of organ- ized knowledge about one aspect of human behavior" (p. xx). If the value of the book is to be guaged by this criterion, Professor Edie deserves high commenda- tion.

The scope of economics, as defined by Edie, is a broad one. It is the science "which deals with the wealth-getting and wealth-using, the money-getting and money-spending, and the welfare-promot- ing activities of man" (p. z). With such a concept of the field of economics there is little room for dispute Ibetween the so-called "price" economists and the "welfare" economists. To Edie most of the definitions that have been given to the science are good, but good only for the purpose for which the definitions have been formulated. The use to which the definition is to be put is the control- ling factor.

It is extremely difficult to place Professor Edie in the groups of economists of the present era. At one time he appears to accept the classical economic dicta and then, again, he is a modem of the mod- ems. The classical trilogy of land, labor and capital is accepted "for certain pur- poses." Later, though, he includes land as a part of the capital concept (p. 767). Again, he proceeds to show that land, in-so-far as it signifies in economic theory, can be increased in supply (p. 314). In fact, says Edie, it is not a matter of impor- tance whether land is considered as a part of capital or not (p. 296). This kind of analysis is characteristic of the book. On controversial questions the

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498 SOCIAL FORCES

author is generous to a fault; he is appar- ently willing to "see good in everything" of the economic reasoning of others.

This generosity on the part of Professor Edie is highly commendable, especially in the light of the many controversies that have waged between the economists of opposing schools of thought. Professor Edie accepts the views of them all-in a measure. And this, while a strong point in the book, is also one of its greatest weaknesses. One finds it difficult to place the author and to know, finally, exactly where he stands on the more controversial questions of economics. The theoretical sections of the book give one the impres- sion that the author has a "straddling" economic theory. Apparently he can sympathize with views that are at vari- ance with his own and even with each other. The reader of the book is given chapters which are full of interesting information. But, at the end, he has a feeling of uncertainty as to what it is all about.

Some sections of the book deserve special commendation as important con- tributions to the scope and method of a general treatise in economics. For ex- ample, the reviewer knows of no dis- cussion on the subject of Consumption so illuminating as that which Professor Edie has written. The chapter on Agri- cultural Problems is also an excellent one. In fact, the chapters dealing with the descriptive and the problem material are much more satisfying than are those in which the more strictly theoretical ques- tions are presented. In the writing of the descriptive and informative chapters Edie shows that he has mastered the literature in the field in such manner as to bring to the general student the results of the research of the specialists. This, in view of the voluminous matter that has emerged within the last few years, is an accom-

plishment in itself. Perhaps this is the chief merit of the book.

It is doubtful whether the average sophomore in American colleges can find his way through the book without great confusion. Unless he has already got some training in systematic economic reasoning, the undergraduate student will probably find himself bewildered and in a maze. To the average student the theory of the book will appear like a patch-work quilt or a mosaic of the economic theories of the past and the present. For the student who has already had a course in elementary economics, however, Professor Edie's book should be a challenge and should give him an outline from which to read extensively and critically.

The lists of rererences appended to the chapters are well selected and give a good basis for more extended study. To the reviewer it does not seem that this book adds anything to the genieralizations of economic theory. As a method of ap- proach, however, and as an encyclopedia of data necessary to the writing of texts in general economics, the book is a useful pioneer.

CLYDE OLIN FISHER. Wesleyan University.

THE YOUNG EMPLOYED GIRL. By Hazel Grant Ormsbee. The Woman's Press, I927. xiv + I24 pp. $I.00.

One of the most important discoveries in this study of 500 continuation school girls in Philadelphia is a method of classi- fication which seems to hold for all types of young employed girls and for the main phases of their activities and interests. This division into four groups centers around the attitude of the girl toward the school which she has left for a job: inter- ested in school and normal in school progress; interested but retarded; not interested and normal in progress; not

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