Rethinking the Future

Rethinking the Future is the story of a relationship between two highly origiÂnal thinkers who achieved great disÂtinction in their chosen fields and in their respective countries. After a disÂtinguished career in law civil adminÂistration and industrial management Geoffrey Vickers made an exceptional contribution to academic debate with regard to ethics epistemology and governance - the art of maintaining stable relationships over time. One of the most eminent scholars of political economics in the Western world and a gifted teacher Adolph Lowe inspired generations of economics students at the New School for Social Research in New York and has published a number of seminal books on the subject. The friendship between the two was very close taking shape through a correÂspondence and occasional visits to one side or the other of the Atlantic. It lasted more than forty years. This volume reflects the extraordiÂnarily wide-ranging nature of the corÂrespondence between Lowe and VickÂers and the continuing discussion of what it means to be human at the end of the twentieth century. The letters provide a personal commentary on some of the major events of this century inÂcluding many that were highly controÂversial. The book shows how these two scholars contributed to the developÂment of the central ideas of the century. They are particularly relevant to presÂent concerns dealing as they do with economics and management social and political sciences governance and pubÂlic policy. Discussing major national and inÂternational problems from very differÂent - and sometimes opposite - standpoints the two men are able through this extraordinary correspondence to formulate ideas of great wisdom and foresight with regard to the world that awaits us as the twenty-first century appears on the horizon. Economists political scientists and sociologists will find this correspondence stimulating and enlightening. Language: English