Simon Patten's Contributions to the Institutionalist View of Abundance
This article highlights Simon Patten's contributions to the institutionalist method and view of abundance. It illustrates Patten's role in the cross-fertilization between early institutionalists and the German Historicists. Patten's views on the societal transition to abundance, the method of social inquiry, and the role of social scientists are re-examined in light of the current exigencies of a climate-constrained, post-industrial economy. The policy implications that emerge from Patten's rejection of the presumption of scarcity are examined in a contemporary context. The article suggests that the historical and evolutionary approach that Patten fostered among institutionalists is essential to the identification and implementation of the socio-economic reform requisite of an age of abundance.