Book Review: University Teaching of Social Sciences
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205501000425 |
| Date | 01 December 1955 |
| Author | C. B. Macpherson |
| Published date | 01 December 1955 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REviEws
309
AN
INTERNATIONAL
ECONOMIC SYSTEM.
By
J. J.
Polak.
1953.
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press;
Toronto: Unversity
of
Toronto
Press.
xi,
179pp.
$4.75)
The
author,
Deputy
Director
of
the
Research
Department
of
the
International
Monetary
Fund
and
a
distinguished
econome-
trician,
writes
primarily
for
econometricians.
For
them
his
development of
a
theoretical
model
of
the
world
economy
from
models
of
national
economies
would
seem
to
represent
the
cul-
mination
of much work
that
has
been
going
on.
Even
more
valuable,
probably,
is
the
development
and
demonstration
of
techniques
for
fitting
statistical
relationships
among
the
relevant
national
and
international
variables,
from
the
empirical
data
of
twenty-five
countries
for the
inter-war
period.
For
the
general
reader
of
this
journal,
who
may have
only
a
slight
competence
in
econometrics,
the
question
is
whether
this
study
can
be
of
particular
value
to him.
I
believe
so.
A
very
helpful
understanding
of
the
relationships
that
link
together
a
national
economy
and
an
international
system
can
be
gained
without perfect understanding
of
the
mathematical
modes
of
expression.
Again,
many
of
the
relationships
revealed by
the
statistical
investigation are
of
great
interest,
even
if
one
must
take the
accuracy
of
their
computation
on
trust.
An
example
is
the
indication
of
the
negligible
effect which
import
restrictions
may,
in
certain
not
unusual
circumstances,
have
on
the
value
of
imports.
University
of
Saskatchewan
J.
S.
M.
ALLELY
UNIVERSITY
TEACHING
OF
SOCIAL
SCIENCES.
By
William
A.
Robson.
1954.
(Paris:
UNESCO;
New
York:
Columbia
University
Press.
249pp.
$1.50)
There
can
be
few
academic
tasks
more
exacting
and
less
re-
warding
than
the
preparation
of
a
general
report
which
must
be
based
on
disparate
reports
by
a
dozen
writers
of
different
coun-
tries,
and
must
be
both informative
and
critical. Professor
Robson
has
discharged
such
a
task
with
notable
success.
This
particular
enquiry
(one
of
a
series
initiated
by
UNESCO)
was
sponsored
by
the
International
Politicaf
Science
Association,
one
of
whose
objectives is
the
encouragement
of political
science
as
an
academic
subject
in
those
countries where
it
is
little
developed.
Professor
Robson's
report
should
further
the
already
perceptible
advance
towards
this
objective,
for
it
displays
comparatively
the
growth
and
present
position
of
political
science
in
ten
countries
(U.S.A.,
Great
Britain,
France,
Sweden,
India,
Mexico,
Poland,
To continue reading
Request your trial