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The Sources of Economic Power

B. Burkitt (Lecturer in Economics, University of Bradford)

International Journal of Social Economics

ISSN: 0306-8293

Article publication date: 1 March 1980

222

Abstract

Economics can be defined as the study of economies, i.e., the ways in which people earn a living. On this definition economic activities occupy a large proportion of most individual's lives and their outcome determines living standards and social status. Therefore it seems axiomatic that indifference to economic matters will be rare and that acquired positions of power will be used to influence their result. Within an economy, individuals and groups possess widely varying degrees of power; few would deny that the directors of ICI possess a greater influence over the parameters within which they operate than does a one‐man business or that the National Union of Mineworkers exerts a greater impact than the National Union of Agricultural Workers. Power can be defined in a general sense as the ability to get one's own way and in economic terms as the ability of an individual or group to fix or alter the conditions of exchange in its own favour. However, power is inherent in anonymous social institutions as well as in identifiable groups and individuals, and it derives more from the routine application of effectively unchallenged assumptions than from domination after public conflict.

Citation

Burkitt, B. (1980), "The Sources of Economic Power", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 122-131. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb013860

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 1980, MCB UP Limited

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