Book Reviews : The New Argument in Economics: The Public versus the Private Sector. Edited by HELMUT SCHOECK AND JAMES W. WIGGINS. (Princeton: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1963. Pp. xii, 264. $5.95.)

• Published date: 01 March 1964
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296401700132
• Date: 01 March 1964
• Author: André Simmons
• Subject Matter: Articles

155

wealth,

forming

the

base

for

a

larger

association

(Malaysia)

to

which

other

British

territories

-

Singapore,

North

Borneo,

and

Sarawak

-

could

affiliate.

The

trading

position

of

Britain

in

Southeast

Asia

is

relatively

weak.

Only

with

Malaya

and

Singapore

has

the

postwar

volume

of

trade

been

substantial.

Japan,

Germany,

China,

Russia,

and

the

United

States

have

increased

trading

activity

in

this

area.

The

strategic

position

is

more

difficult

to

assess.

American

naval

power

is

pre-

dominant :

the

British

force

based

on

Singapore

is

modest.

Some

Commonwealth

military

strength,

for

example

the

air

units

of

the

United

Kingdom,

Australia,

and

New

Zealand,

is

based

on

Malaya,

which

is

not

a

member

of

SEATO

and

unwilling

to

allow

its

territory

to

be

used

for

SEATO

military

actions.

The

augmented

politi-

cal

and

military

role

of

Australia

and

New

Zealand

is

a

source

of

some

satisfaction

to

friends

of

the

Commonwealth.

The

book

is

a

careful

account

of

the

main

events

and

the

reasons

for

the

reduc-

tion

of

British

role

in

Southeast

Asia

from

one

of

predominance

to

one

of

junior

partnership.

The

launching

of

Malaysia

may

be,

as

Mr.

Rose

suggests,

&dquo;the

most

valuable

parting

gift

that

Britain

could

make

to

Southeast

Asia....&dquo;

University

of

California,

Santa

Cruz

DEAN

E.

McHENRY

The

New

Argument

in

Economics:

The

Public

versus

the

Private

Sector.

Edited

by

HELMUT

SCHOECK

AND

JAMES

W.

WIGGINS.

(Princeton:

D.

Van

Nostrand

Co.,

1963.

Pp.

xii,

264.

$5.95.)

Professors

Schoeck

and

Wiggins,

two

sociologists

and

anthropologists,

after

hav-

ing

cooperated

in

editing

books

on

scientism,

relativism,

and

psychiatry

decided

to

venture

into

the

field

of

economics

and

politics,

and

to

edit

a

selection

of

articles

dealing

with

the

argument

of

public

versus

private

sector

under

the

title

&dquo;The

New

Argument

in

Economics.&dquo;

The

title

is

largely

misleading.

In

their

preface,

the

editors

state

that

&dquo;the

title

for

the

volume

was

chosen

in

irony,

of

course.

The

’new

argument’

in

economics

and

public

policy

is

...

even

older

than

pre-nineteenth-century

socialism.&dquo;

The

editors

do

not

expect

that

anything

new

will

be

said

on

this

subject,

and

somewhat

presump-

tiously

state

that

their

book

should

be

&dquo;a

final

inquest.&dquo;

Contrary

to

the

generally

accepted

practice

of

presenting

both

sides

of

an

issue,

the

editors

have

chosen

to

present

only

one,

namely,

the

view

that

the

public

sector

today

is

too

big

and

ought

to

be

reduced.

The

articles

written

by

twelve

different

authors

vary

in

quality

and

in

relevance.

There

are

at

least

three

that

appear

to

be

out

of

place

in

this

volume:

they

are

hardly

relevant

to

the

discussion

of

public

versus

private

sector.

One

(No. 6)

presents

the

old

story

about

the

advantages

of

free

trade.

The

second

(No. 7)

repeats

the

familiar,

frequently

highly

emotional,

argu-

ments

against

foreign

economic

aid

to

underdeveloped

countries.

The

third

(No. 8)

gives

a

rather

detailed

history

of

the

revolutions

organized

by

the

Mor~imiento

Na-

cionalista

Revolutionario

in

Bolivia.

The

remaining

nine

articles

are

rather

uniform

in

their

tone.

Their

authors

believe,

in

general,

that

the

public

sector

of

our

economy

has

grown

too

large,

and