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Whenever capitalism in the West appears to be dragging with unresolved problems, then quite a few people, including professional economists, begin to think that perhaps socialism is a better alternative. Conversely, in the East even a larger number of people, including economists (who are not activists), seriously believe that in view of their shortages and meagre incomes capitalism would be a better alternative.

This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and economic democracy, which centres around the establishment of a new sector of employee‐controlled enterprises, is presented. The proposal would retain the mix‐ed economy, but transform it into a much better “mixture”, with increased employee‐power in all sectors. While there is much of enduring value in our liberal western way of life, gross inequalities of wealth and power persist in our society.

Among leaders of the French Socialist Movement, Albert Thomas (1878‐1932) was one of the few steady supporters of scientific management. The purpose of this paper is to describe how Thomas developed his ideas about advanced management thought and practice during and after World War I.

The paper makes extensive use of published and unpublished primary sources preserved at the Archives nationales, Paris, at the Bureau International du Travail (BIT), Geneva, and at Smith College, Northampton, MA.

Thomas's reformist ideology first stood the test during World War I when he served as minister for munitions for France. After the International Labour Organization had entrusted him with the directorship of the BIT, Thomas helped to create the International Management Institute (IMI) as a center for the collection and dissemination of advanced management thought and practice. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the rationalization movement fell into disrepute. Like some progressive members of the Taylor Society, Thomas identified scientific management increasingly with concepts of socioeconomic planning and international cooperation. Nonetheless, the intellectual tide turned against his reformist creed. Having lost the support of its American sponsors, IMI closed its doors in January 1934, only about two years after Thomas's unexpected death.

The paper tries to show how one of the most brilliant French politicians of the last century developed and applied his theories‐in‐use about scientific management under changing historical circumstances.

This is the second part of a long investigation under the title of, Principia Oeconomica; the first having appeared in this journal in 1986. The substance of the argument in this contribution is in the form of a dialogue with Henri Guitton, member of l'Institut de France and author of a book in French, De l'Imperfection en Economie (1979). Guitton is leading a new French Economic School critical of a modern economy characterised by ‘Econosm” or “Economy of Counter‐sense”. Economism refers to the practice of conceiving problems of a modern society in strictly economic‐accounting terms and neglecting a host of social and human aspects. The second term means that the sole attention given to growth in production did not increase the happiness of man but on the contrary it created for him new problems (pollution, noise, atomic radiation and other hazards). To cope with these problems, the French school recommends wise policies which Guitton called “creative imperfection”. Guitton's presentation is followed step by step, with an interpretation in terms of stable equilibrium. The recommendation stresses structural reforms to solve the same problems but following a road of “creative perfection” leading to the same goal sought by Guitton: a better world of tomorrow.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the dual paradox of French industrial relations. On the one hand, unions are numerically weak and bitterly divided but retain a significant influence. On the other hand, the social climate remains highly conflict-prone and marked by an ideological rhetoric opposing the wealthy oppressors to the exploited masses within a relatively prosperous society.

The paper finds a historical explanation in constant features of French society.

The paper found that specific concepts of freedom and equality shaped the present organization of industrial relations.

The paper explains the structure and organization of unions and labor relations through societal elements structured historically.

The author reconstructs the anti-Semitic press campaign led by Maffeo Pantaleoni, one of the major Italian economists, between 1915 and 1924. A declared supporter of Nationalism and Fascism, co-editor of the magazine La Vita italiana, the economist moreover promoted the publication of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in 1921 plus the publication of lists of Jews who had prominent roles in Italy. Pantaleoni’s work is particularly important from the idealogical point of view because it supports that of the founder of La Vita italiana, Giovanni Preziosi, who was destined to hold, after the death of his ‘master’, a primary role in the Fascist culture and policy of anti-Semitism during the Republic of Salò (1943–1945) which promoted the systematic extermination of Italian Jews.