PRATT, WALLACE E., and DOROTHY GOOD (Eds.). World Geography of Petroleum. Pp. 464. Princeton: Princeton University Press for The American Geographical Society, 1950. $7.50
| Date | 01 March 1951 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271625127400159 |
| Published date | 01 March 1951 |
| Author | Lester E. Klimm |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
230
not
particularly
revolutionary;
the
building
blocks
are
arranged
differently,
but
the
student
will
find
most
of the
old
blocks
here.&dquo;
Professor
Boulding
wrote
this
book
be-
cause
of
his
dissatisfaction
with
the
present
state
of
economic
theory
as
generally
re-
ceived
and
taught.
He
was
dissatisfied
be-
cause
of the
failure
of
economics
to
in-
tegrate
itself
into
the
general
body
of
social
science,
because
of the
deficiency
of
existing
capital
theory,
and
because
of
the
failure
of
Keynesian
macroeconomics
to
distinguish
between
the
exchange
or
payment
process
and
the
processes
of
production,
consump-
tion,
income,
and
outgo.
To
overcome
these
dissatisfactions
the
author
divides
his
book
into
two
parts.
Part
I
deals
with
microeconomics,
and
Part
II
treats
macroeconomics.
In
his
first
two
chapters
the
author
outlines
the
general
setting
in
which
economics,
as
a
separate
discipline,
lies.
Then
he
tries
to
overcome
his
dissatisfaction
with
the
theory
of
the
firm.
In
Chapter
10
he
begins
his
treatment
of
macroeconomics
with
a
discussion
of
the
nature
and
significance
of
economic
ag-
gregates.
This
is
followed
by
a
theory
of
output
and
employment
and
a
macroeco-
nomic
theory
of
distribution.
It
is
this
latter
theory
which
Professor
Boulding
feels
is
perhaps
the
most
original
and
con-
troversial
section
of
his
book.
In
Chapter
16
on
the
economics
of
gov-
ernment,
a
theory
of
taxation
is
developed,
and
in
a
final
and
very
brief
chapter
he
discusses
economic
cybernetics,
secular
in-
flation,
and
the
future
of
capitalism.
Professor
Boulding
says
that,
&dquo;Although
I
should
certainly
accept
the
title
of
a
Keynesian
and,
with
all
modern
economists,
owe
an
enormous
debt
to
Keynes’s
brilliance
of
insight
and
imaginative
sweep,
his
sys-
tem
shows
a
number
of
weaknesses
which
have
not
been
corrected
by
his
followers.&dquo;
He
believes
that
the
theory
he
propounds
represents
a
return
to
a
more
classical
type
of
theory,
that
&dquo;it
is
closer
to
Mill
than
to
Marshall,
and
represents
an
attempt
to
set
the
classical
’macroeconomics’
on
a
firmer
foundation.&dquo;
The
future
teacher
and
student
of
eco-
nomic
doctrines
will
find
this
book
of
in-
terest
as
an
attempt
to
refine
a
major
current
doctrine.
FRED
M.
JONES
University
of
Illinois
PRATT,
WALLACE
E.,
and
DOROTHY
GOOD
(Eds.).
World
Geography
of
Petroleum.
Pp.
464.
Princeton:
Princeton
Univer-
sity
Press
for
The
American
Geograph-
ical
Society,
1950.
$7.50.
The
special
province
of
geography
is
comparative
regional
description
and
anal-
ysis.
It
is
the
application
of
such
com-
parative
analysis
to
one
of the
world’s
most
significant
resources
that
occupies
more
than
400
of
the
464
pages
of
this
book
and
that
gives
it
its
greatest
value.
The
com-
parative
statistical
compilations,
the
exten-
sive
bibliographies,
the
excellent
maps
and
photographs,
the
simple
but
adequate
ex-
planations
of
technical
matters-all
these
may
be
found,
albeit
in
scattered
sources
-but
the
regional
analyses
and
compar-
isons
are
unique.
Each
chapter
is
written
by
an
expert
in
the
subject
or
region
under
discussion
and
the
editors,
one
a
petroleum
geologist
with
a
lifetime
of
experience
throughout
the
world
and
the
other
a
well-known
editor
of
geographical
publications,
have
shown
real
genius
in
integrating
their
efforts.
The
first
short
chapter
contains
a
brief
description
of
the
geologic
conditions
under
which
petroleum
may
occur
and
the
limita-
tions
which
affect
its
concentration
and
dis-
covery.
This
is
accompanied
by
a
world
map
showing
possible
petroliferous
areas
and
actual
fields.
The
second
chapter
briefly
examines
the
functional
organization
of
the
petroleum
industry.
The
bulk
of
the
text
is
devoted
to
regional
analyses.
These
are
well-organized
to
allow
for
illuminating
generalization
on
a
world-wide
scale,
plus
usefully
detailed
local
differentiation.
Each
major
part
of
the
world
(such
as
&dquo;The
Caribbean
Area
as a
Whole&dquo;)
is
described
in
a
separate
chapter.
This
is
followed
by
chapters
on
each
of
the
separate
parts,
or
countries,
of
the
region.
The
special
usefulness
of
the
geographic,
or
regional-comparative,
approach
is
illus-
trated
in
Eugene
Stebinger’s
chapter
on
the
Union
of
Soviet
Socialist
Republics.
Here
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