Economists and Engineers

Abstract

Margaret Gowing is one of the few economists of her generation who has shown a particular interest in engineering. Her study of the development of the atomic bomb is a commentary on events of the highest importance, in which technical, political and economic influences interacted in a way that economists should be particularly well equipped to explain, but rarely investigate. It is just such a mixture of influences that has come to dominate life in industrial countries; and it is increasingly futile to limit attention to any one of these influences to the exclusion of the others in explaining the past or providing for the future. Conversely, in the assessment of situations and projects and in framing recommendations for action, it is increasingly necessary for those who analyse economic, social and political factors to co-operate with those whose province is technology.