Political Economy : Springer : 9780898380835 : 0898380839 : 31 Aug 1983 : This volume contains original essays by outstanding scholars working within several of the dominant genres in contemporary political economy: neoclassical public finance, public choice, and Marxian analysis. Critical overviews of some of their major themes are offered in my introductory chapter and in Warren J. Samuels' concluding one, while more focused, if briefer, comments by other scholars follow each of the theoretical presen­ tations in chapters 2 through 4. The book's aim is to alert, inform, and possibly provoke readers to a more careful examination of the important and manifold problems of theory and analysis raised by authors whose points of entry into the subject of political economy often differ substan­ tially. At a time when problems of economic performance and political management frequently seem to have become not only severe but intrac­ table, it is not unwise to consider again the ways in which