Capitalism, Employment, and Complexity: With Further Critical Comments on Another Hodgson
I would be very grateful if the readers of this journal would help me. It seems that there is another "Geoffrey Hodgson" who also published a book called Economics and Utopia in 1999. This other Hodgson is the one whom Stephanie Bell and John Henry (2001) have criticized so forcibly in a recent issue of this journal. The position they criticized is so very different from my own that it is clear there must be another Hodgson at large. I am most grateful to Stephanie and John for bringing this other Hodgson to my attention. But I cannot find this other Hodgson's (1999) work anywhere. This other Hodgson seems to have plagiarized a few words from my own book and, to make matters worse, seems also to be responsible for a number of silly arguments. I am also grateful to Stephanie and John for showing how weak the other Hodgson's arguments are. But I am still worried. This other Hodgson could be confused with me! I am asking for the help of lEI readers in two ways. First, if anyone has a copy of Economics and Utopia by the other "Geoffrey Hodgson," then I shall love to obtain a copy. Second, I ask to be allowed to explain here how my views differ from those of the other Hodgson. I fully acknowledge that my own ideas are not always presented with optimum clarity, so I appreciate this opportunity to have another try. In the following section I recapitulate some of the ideas of the other Hodgson, as portrayed by Bell and Henry. I contrast my own views with those of my unfortunate namesake. In the subsequent section I summarize, for the record, my own argument in the third part of my Economics and Utopia.