An Inquiry into the Human Prospect: Updated & Reconsidered for the 1990s

by Robert L. Heilbroner

Is there hope for man? That "terrible question" was posed by Robert L. Heilbroner in the original version of An Inquiry into the Human Prospect . In this third edition of a book that has become a classic, Professor Heilbroner leaves the question in place on the first page, believing some twenty years later that that interrogative sounds the themes of the 1990s as well. The main components of the global predicament he described in the first edition are still with us today: runaway populations, obliterative weaponry, and a closing environmental vise. Writing now, in the aftermath of the extraordinary events that caused communism as a challenger to capitalism to vanish "like a puff of smoke," Professor Heilbroner traces out the difficulties that beset those attempting centrally planned economics. He shows how Soviet-style systems became mired in bureaucratic swamps. But he warns that the triumph of profit-driven, market-directed economies will not delay the looming encounter with the ecological barrier. "The absorption capacities of the environment," writes Professor Heilbroner, "whether in terms of the greenhouse effect or the overrunning of other physico-chemical capabilities of the planet" still determine the limits of the economic expansion. Trenchant and unflinching, Professor Heilbroner's look at the sum and substance of our prospects for the remaining years of this century is provocative and indispensable reading for those who prefer not to avert their gaze from the hard realities of our times.

Genres: Philosophy, Economics, History, Nonfiction

paper

First published April 1, 1974

About the author

Robert L. Heilbroner (March 24, 1919 – January 4, 2005) was an American economist and historian of economic thought. The author of some twenty books, Heilbroner was best known for The Worldly Philosophers, a survey of the lives and contributions of famous economists, notably Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes.

Written in 1953, The Worldly Philosophers has sold nearly four million copies—the second-best-selling economics text of all time. The seventh edition of the book, published in 1999, included a new final chapter entitled "The End of Worldly Philosophy?", which included both a grim view on the current state of economics as well as a hopeful vision for a "reborn worldly philosophy" that incorporated social aspects of capitalism.

Although a highly unconventional economist, who regarded himself as more of a social theorist and "worldly philosopher" (philosopher pre-occupied with "worldly" affairs, such as economic structures), and who tended to integrate the disciplines of history, economics and philosophy, Heilbroner was nevertheless recognized by his peers as a prominent economist. He was elected Vice President of the American Economic Association in 1972.

He also came up with a way of classifying economies, as either Traditional (primarily agriculturally-based, perhaps subsistence economy), Command (centrally planned economy, often involving the state), Market (capitalism), or Mixed.

He was a trustee of the Economists for Peace and Security.

Heilbroner died on January 4, 2005 in New York, NY at the age of 85.

Reviews

[John Jacobi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written originally in the 60s. Good overview of a certain strain of anti industrial ideas prevalent at the time and which saw a resurgence in the 89s-90s.

Not a great book. Many of the predictions were false, the writing style was often overly flowery, and the analysis lacking in hard facts.

A better book was Eclipse of Man by Charles Rubin (and probably The Prospects of Industrial Civilization by Bertrand Russell, which I will read soon).

It was mostly beneficial to me because it provided yet another example of a modern thinker with explicitly anti industrial ideas, one whose name might appeal to a certain kind of economic- or political-thinking person.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought provoking work, whether or not one agree with Robert Heilbroner. He speaks of the challenges facing humankind, after the demise of planned socialist societies like the old Soviet Union. However, he notes that the challenges continue--and it is not clear that market economies can address the increasingly difficult environmental challenges.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're all doomed! At least that's what armchair economist, philosopher and historian Robert Heilbroner predicts for the world. I heard Marlon Brando plug this book on Los Angeles television in the Seventies and had to have a look myself. Heilbroner jumps off where the Sixties nay-sayers, especially Paul Erhrlich in THE POPULATION BOMB, left off. Overpopulation will lead to food shortages, a rise in prices for all vital commodities, and not just oil, rampant pollution, wars between nations and civil wars, and ultimately mass extinction, which, given the way humans behave towards the environment and each other, may not be such a bad thing. In sum: A new Ice Age. People laughed at this doomsday plot back then (although not Brando) and even harder now. It's not that the ills described by Heilbroner don't plague mankind---they do--but that there are historical reasons behind them, and crying "the sky is falling" is not going to help. No wonder NEWSWEEK magazine dubbed this book and others like it "apocalypse chic".

[William Crosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discusses the challenges facing human existence and the prospects for their resolution taking into consideration economic systems and human psychology as implementers and barriers.

This edition is from 1975. I have not read the later editions. This is one I had from college which I just reread. Although there are several circumstances (such as the collapse of the USSR) which he did not foresee, that is not the purpose of the book. He is thinking long term. Several of his concerns have become much more prominent of late such as global warming, acts of terror, problems with industrial agriculture and shortages of water.

[Otto]

Though "revised" the core of the book is reasonable but deep pessimism rooted in the apparent trends of the 1970's and 1980's. Despite the mention of a few more contemporary events, it is still outdated pessimism that needs to be replaced with 21st century pessimism.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a college freshman but I think I couldn't appreciate the theory in context. Now, the arguments are more interesting. I read the 80s version and, although some predictions have not materialized, others have and the underlying theories about mankind resonate.

[Mario Barragan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unbearably Pessimistic, common sense presented as thoughtful theories.