In a balanced and perceptive analysis, Alexander Nove describes the organisation of economic life and of the planning system, analysing the practical and theoretical problems within the institutional structure of the Soviet system, and introducing the student to Soviet economic ideas and concepts. The subject is then related to the growth of the Soviet economy and to the extent to which both the institutions and the problems reflect the historical peculiarities of the USSR. The author does not try to argue for or against the system or to provide answers but aims to stimulate the reader to enquire further into the more important questions raised by the strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet economy.

    John Calvin, living and working in Geneva, then as now a center of trade and banking, is the reformer who thought most carefully about economic and social issues, warning that "social disorder is first and foremost disdain for the poor and oppression of the weak." Calvin's application of the teaching of the Bible to practical issues of his place and time speaks to us with continuing relevance. Andr Bi ler examines the reformer's practical theology within the context of his proclamation of the Christian gospel and doctrine, carefully differentiating the authentic voice of Calvin from that of later Calvinists, Puritans, and such academic interpreters as Max Weber, Ernst Troeltsch, and R.H. Tawney. Biéler's monumental work, a storehouse of Calvin's own writing and teaching, has enjoyed steady sales in French since it first appeared in 1959. With this new edition, it becomes available for the first time in English translation.

    

    

    Second Edition, Revised