Purposeful Engineering Economics

Book Preface

The title, “Purposeful Engineering Economics,” was chosen to emphasize the importance of the intentions behind any economic action. To explain this idea adequately requires investigation well beyond engineering economics, per se. In fact, much of the narrative will range over a wide subject area to draw from works in sociology, philosophy, political economy, history, and even religion for background materials. I am not aware of any previous attempt to “explain” engineering economy this way.

This book is intended primarily for instructors of engineering economy classes, particularly those for civil engineering students. It is assumed that the instructor will be well versed in the methods of engineering economy but is interested to include the wider perspective of catallactics in the course. This book will suggest ways to do this; it is not intended to replace a basic engineering economy textbook.

Although I am not an economist, I created and taught a course on economics and risk for almost 20 years. For many years before that, I maintained an abiding interest in the literature of the Austrian school economists, obviously not a common interest for engineers. Several private foundations provided enough support for the development and continued revision of the CEE course known as “Economy and Risk” as well as several associated case studies. This decade-long relationship produced numerous published articles on subjects as varied as water quality control programs, the transcontinental railroads, and the course content itself. The latest presentation of this material was at an international meeting concerned with water resources and other environmental issues.