Kaushik Basu Department of Economics Uris Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 Fax: 607-2552818 Email: kb40@cornell.edu

[Paper presented at the conference '25 Years: Social Science & Social Change', Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, May 9-11, 1997.]

Acknowledgments: This essay draws on my forthcoming book, Prelude to Political Economy: A Study of the Social and Political Foundations of Economics. In writing the essay I have benefitted from the comments and criticisms of Patrick Emerson, Michael McPherson, Andy Rutten, Eduardo Zambrano and an anonymous referee.