The thesis put forward in this paper is that Herbert A. Simon was a distinctive theoretician of decentralized decisional systems alternative to the market, from planning to organizations. This issue emerges from the convergence of four perspectives, each with a different role and influence on...

Chapter 1. Introduction -- Part 1. Machines, Bodies, and Invisible Hands -- Chapter 2. Metaphors as conceptual tools -- Chapter 3. The metaphor of the machine -- Chapter 4. Smith and the organic metaphors -- Chapter 5. The invisible hand -- Part 2. Visible and Invisible Orders: The Secrets of...

An important observer in Italy of the debate on market socialism was Attilio Cabiati, who discussed the central issues of the controversy with Luigi Einaudi from a Paretian perspective. The essay shows how Cabiati addressed those issues, pointing out some peculiarities in his intellectual style....

In analysis of the reciprocal relations which link together the evolution of the relations of subordination, personal incentives, and the division of labor with special reference to the agricultural and the commercial stages, Adam Smith pointed out the exclusive role performed by personal...

The aim of this essay is to describe the concept of self-interest and show how it relates to the idea of the individual as an economic agent, focusing only on Smith's Wealth of Nations. Self-interest is analysed from three different perspectives that highlight its conceptual complexity. The...