The three key elements of this book--its theoretical intent, the importance Commons gave to his own experience in institutional reform in shaping these ideas, and the focus on the concept of the institution as a collective constraint on individual action.

I: The Point of View; II: Method; III: Quesnay; IV: Hume and Peirce; V: Adam Smith; VI: Bentham Versus Blackstone; VII: Malthus; VIII: Efficiency and Scarcity; IX: Futurity