CONTENTS -- List of tables -- Preface -- A political economy of Lebanon, 1948-2002: The limits of laissez-faire -- Introduction -- CHAPTER ONE OF SPONTANEITY AND DESIGN: THE MARKET AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -- In the mainstream: the efficiency of markets -- Fundamentals of neoclassical economics -- Updating the pure neoclassical theory -- Neoclassical theory and developing countries -- Post-Keynesianism, or the revival of classical political economy -- The Post-Keynesian critique -- What Post-Keynesianism is -- Development: a Post-Keynesian perspective -- The radical critique -- Capitalism and economic development -- Capitalism, between chance and necessity -- Modernism versus Postmodernism in economics? -- An assessment -- CHAPTER TWO THE ROAD TO LAISSEZ-FAIRE: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE -- Early capitalism and industrialization in 19th century Lebanon -- The end of feudalism -- The seeds of capitalism -- The demise of industry -- Industrial resurgence and the triumph of laissez-faire, 1920-1950 -- The new economic environment -- The second industrial opportunity -- The triumph of laissez-faire -- The rules of the game -- The political setting -- The factor and product markets -- CHAPTER THREE GROWTH WITHOUT DEVELOPMENT -- The record of growth and development in Lebanon -- Growth and development performance: a first impression -- The growth record re-examined -- The distribution of income and wealth -- Education, skills and culture under laissez-faire -- Labor and skills in the development process -- Skills: whence they came and where they went -- The underdevelopment of capitalism -- The market without capitalism -- Independent labor and development -- Independent activity in agriculture -- Independent activity in industry and services -- Transfers and emigration -- CHAPTER FOUR LAISSEZ-FAIRE AGAINST INDUSTRY -- Industry in context.

A historical background -- Cost and demand conditions -- Other structural elements -- Manufacturing performance -- The industrial series -- Productivity and linkages -- What happened? -- A theoretical interlude: Pasinetti's dynamics of growth -- Mechanization, capital intensity and productivity -- Capital accumulation under laissez-faire -- Consumption versus investment -- Industrialization without capitalism -- The moral of the story -- The conservatism of laissez-faire -- What could have been -- CHAPTER FIVE THE REPRODUCTION OF LAISSEZ-FAIRE -- The exchange economy -- Breathless: laissez-faire without support -- Trade and transfers: the balance of payments -- Structural change under laissez-faire -- Growth without structural change -- The productivity of laissez-faire -- Income distribution and the development of capitalism -- Income distribution and profitability -- Subsistence and the structure of wages -- The development of waged employment -- Playing the game: behavior and the reproduction of laissez-faire -- Life after profits: business investment behavior -- Households as workers -- The foreign sector: a financial relationship -- Government: subsidizing the market -- A summing-up -- CHAPTER SIX FROM CRISIS TO RECONSTRUCTION -- Coping with war, 1975-1990 -- Political milestones -- The efficiency of laissez-faire -- Banks: the jewel in the crown -- Banking structure and evolution, 1950-2002 -- Financial versus economic intermediation -- Laissez-faire in crisis -- The setting -- Going all the way: anatomy of a currency crisis -- Aftermath -- Reconstruction, 1993-2002 -- A new beginning -- From reconstruction to debt management -- The economics and politics of debt -- CHAPTER SEVEN CONCLUDING REMARKS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS -- Lebanon's growth and development experience -- An interpretation of Lebanon's experience -- Policy recommendations.

Finale -- Statistical Appendices -- Appendix I: Population -- Appendix II: Labor and Employment -- Appendix III: The National Accounts of Lebanon, 1945-2002 -- Appendix IV: Price Indices and Deflators -- Bibliography -- Subject Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- K -- L -- M -- N -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Author Index.