Economist’s Progress

Between Capitalism and Socialism: Essays in Political Economics, by Robert Heilbroner. New York: Random House. 294 pp.

There is tension, even suspense, in Robert Heilbroner’s new collection of articles. The tension comes from Heilbroner’s agonizing over the classic issue, the social injustices perpetrated by capitalism on the one hand and by the totalitarianism historically associated with “soeialism” on the other. One cares about Heilbroner because he is an academician who cannot be dismissed for affecting a modish New Left authoritarian bias. His inner debate is agonizing, indeed, because of the earnestness with which he strives to give full marks to each side even as his predilection is so deepl...