The period after World War Two, with its sustained growth and high employment rate, has been referred to as the "golden age" of capitalism. Blending historical analysis with economic theory, this work presents essays that scrutinize the institutions that fostered this growth and high
employment as well as the forces which later undermined the effectiveness of these institutions in the 1960s and 70s. The authors discuss the evolution of the historical background, the macroeconomic structure, the international order, the systems of production, as well as the "rules of
coordination." They use this to show that the golden age, like other historical epochs, must be understood as a series of interacting institutions--all operating in different areas, but sometimes interlocking with one another and crucial to an intelligent analysis of a critical period in the
American experience. Contributors include A. Glyn, A. Hughes, A. Lipietz, A. Singh, G. Epstein, J. Schor, S. Marglin, A. Bhaduri, S. Bowles, R. Boyer, R. Rowthorn, and M. Aoki.

Lal Jayawardena: Preface; Stephen A. Marglin: Lessons of the golden age: an overview; Andrew Glyn, Alan Hughes, Alan Lipietz, & Ajit Singh: The rise and fall of the golden age; Gerald Epstein, & Juliet Schor: Macropolicy in the rise and fall of the golden age; Stephen A. Marglin & Amit Bhaduri: Profit squeeze and Keynesian theory; Samuel Bowles, & Robert Boyer: A wage-led employment regime: income distribution, labour discipline, and aggregate demand in welfare capitalism; Bob Rowthorn, & Andrew Glyn: The diversity of unemployment experience since 1973; Masahiko Aoki: A new paradigm of work organization and co-ordination: lessons from Japanese experience; references; index.