DOCSLIB.ORG

A Concise History of Economic Thought Also by Gianni Vaggi from the DEBT CRISIS to SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Concise History of Economic Thought Also by Gianni Vaggi from the DEBT CRISIS to SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT A Concise History of Economic Thought Also by Gianni Vaggi FROM THE DEBT CRISIS TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THE ECONOMICS OF FRANCOIS QUESNAY Also by Peter Groenewegen ALFRED MARSHALL: Collected Essays ALFRED MARSHALL: Critical Responses AUSTRALIAN TAXATION POLICY: Survey 1965 to 1980 ECONOMICS AND ETHICS? THE ECONOMICS OF A.R.J. TURGOT EVERYONE’S GUIDE TO AUSTRALIAN TAXATION FEMINISM AND POLITICAL ECONOMY IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND A HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC THOUGHT (with Bruce McFarlane) ITALIAN ECONOMICS PAST AND PRESENT (co-edited with J. Halevi) OFFICIAL PAPERS OF ALFRED MARSHALL: A Supplement PHYSICIANS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY PUBLIC FINANCE IN AUSTRALIA: Theory and Practice READINGS IN AUSTRALIAN TAX POLICY A SOARING EAGLE: Alfred Marshall 1842–1924 SOCIALIST THOUGHT IN THE POST COLD WAR ERA (co-edited with Bruce McFarlane) THE TAXABLE CAPACITY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN NEW SOUTH WALES TAXATION AND FISCAL FEDERALISM: Essays in Honour of Russell Mathews (co-edited with H.G. Brennan and B.S. Grewel) THE WHOLESALE SALES TAX IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE A Concise History of Economic Thought From Mercantilism to Monetarism Gianni Vaggi Professor of Economics University of Pavia Italy and Peter Groenewegen Professor of Economics University of Sydney Australia © Gianni Vaggi and Peter Groenewegen 2003 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2003 978-0-333-99936-6 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in hardcover 2003 First published in paperback 2006 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-4039-8739-6 ISBN 978-0-230-50580-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230505803 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows: Vaggi, Gianni. A concise history of economic thought: from mercantilism to monetarism/Gianni Vaggi and Peter Groenewegen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Economics–History. I. Groenewegen, Peter D. II. Title. HB75 .V32 2002 330. 1–dc21 2002073546 10987654321 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 Gianni Vaggi dedicates this book to Paolo, Marco and Anna This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Figures x Prologue xi Foreword xvii PART I CLASSICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY, 1600–1870 1 Introduction: from Mercantilism to Marx 3 Section I Seventeenth-century Pioneers 2 Thomas Mun, 1571–1641: from Bullion to Foreign Trade 15 3 Dudley North, 1641–91 and John Locke, 1632–1704: Early Critical Reactions to Mercantilism 23 4 Sir William Petty, 1623–87: Division of Labour and Surplus 29 Section II Developments in French Economics 5 Pierre le Pesant Sieur de Boisguilbert, 1646–1714: France at the Turn of the Century 39 6 Richard Cantillon, 1697–1734: the Entrepreneur in Agriculture and Trade 46 Section III Towards a Mature Classical Political Economy 7 François Quesnay, 1694–1774: Reproduction and Capital 57 8 David Hume, 1711–76 and the Scottish Enlightenment 71 9 Ferdinando Galiani, 1728–87 and Sir James Steuart, 1713–80: Real Value and Corn Trade 82 10 Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, 1727–81: Investments and Returns 92 Section IV The First Full Systems of Classical Political Economy 11 Adam Smith, 1723–90: National Wealth and the Productivity of Labour 103 12 Jean-Baptiste Say, 1767–1832 and Jean-Charles Simonde de Sismondi, 1773–1842: Value, Revenues and Crises 117 Section V The ‘Golden Age’ of Classical Political Economy 13 Thomas Robert Malthus, 1766–1834: Population and Effectual Demand 129 vii viii Contents 14 David Ricardo, 1772–1823: the Rate of Profit 137 15 Torrens, Senior and the Aftermath of Ricardo 149 16 Karl Marx, 1818–83: the Critique of Political Economy 159 PART II MODERN DEVELOPMENTS, 1870–1960 17 Introduction: the Coming of Marginalism and Macro-economics 179 Section I The First Generation 18 John Stuart Mill, 1806–73: a Figure of Transition 191 19 William Stanley Jevons, 1835–82: Utilitarianism and Economics 203 20 Carl Menger, 1840–1921: the Importance of Marginal Utility and the Economics of Scarcity 211 21 Léon Walras, 1834–1910: the Notion of General Equilibrium 217 22 Alfred Marshall, 1842–1924: Partial Equilibrium and Useful Economics 227 Section II The Development of Marginalist Economics: Distribution and Capital Theory 23 J.B Clark and P.H. Wicksteed: the Development of Marginal Productivity Theory 237 24 Von Wieser and Böhm-Bawerk: Austrian Versions of Capital and Distribution Theory 244 Section III Pioneers of Macro-economics 25 Knut Wicksell, 1851–1926: Interest and Prices 255 26 Irving Fisher, 1867–1947: Appreciation and Interest 260 27 Joseph Alois Schumpeter, 1883–1950: Economic Development 265 Section IV Further Developments in Micro-economics 28 Pigou, Clapham and Scraffa: Wealth, Welfare and Cost Controversies 273 29 Joan Robinson, 1903–83 and Edward Chamberlin, 1899–1967: Theory of the Firm 283 30 Vilfredo Pareto, 1848–1923 and Lionel Robbins, 1898–1984: Critique and Decline of Utility Theory 288 Section V The Foundations of Modern Macro-economics 31 John Maynard Keynes, 1883–1946: a New General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money 297 Contents ix 32 Michal Kalecki, 1898–1970: a New Macro-economics 308 33 R.F. Harrod, 1900–78 and E.D. Domar (1914–99): Cycles and Growth 314 34 Milton Friedman (1912– ): Monetarism and its Critics 319 Epilogue 325 Bibliography 327 Index 331 List of Figures 7.1 Tableau économique 64 7.2 Formula of the Tableau économique 65 18.1 The falling rate of profit 200 19.1 Positive and negative utility 206 19.2 Allocation of labour 209 21.1 The Walrasian utility (rareté) function 222 22.1 The Marshallian construction of the supply curve 231 23.1 The J.B. Clark marginal productivity function 238 29.1 Price/output equilibrium under imperfect competition 285 30.1 Paretian indifference curves 290 31.1 Hansen 45° line of aggregate demand 302 31.2 Aggregate demand/aggregate supply analysis in Keynes’s General Theory 306 x Prologue The question ‘why another book on the history of economic thought when the market seems already glutted with texts, some of them of very high quality?’, may be posed. The answer to this is straightforward. As teachers and researchers of the subject over many years we think that a new book on the subject can still make a useful contribution, particularly when it focuses on developing the story of how economics evolved by means of a dual division between classical political economy on the one hand, and modern developments on the other, in which a section on Marx concludes the first part while a section on Mill introduces the modern era. The importance of this logic for ordering the subject matter of the book is fully explained in this introduction. Why a relatively short book for assisting students of the history of econom- ics in their preliminary study, also needs some comment. Most of the existing history of economics texts are lengthy affairs, William Barber’s venture for Penguin books being one of the few, outstanding exceptions. A shorter book has considerable advantages. Apart from the obvious one of cost (affecting both price for the student purchaser and that of time spent in reading), a shorter book allows a clearer overview of the subject, enabling the reader to see the forest as well as many of the individual trees. Moreover, our focus is on linking the past with the present, and intended to show that an understand- ing of aspects of classical economics and of post-1848 developments of the subjects assists in grasping the trends of modern, contemporary economics. Why a book in two parts, specifically devoted to classical economics and what we call, ‘modern developments’? To answer this question, our views on the meaning of classical economics and modern developments need clarification. Classical economics for us spans the virtually two centuries from Petty to Marx, in which economists saw the key features for explain- ing the operations of a modern economy in terms of the requirements for reproduction, the generation of surplus product and the accumulation of capital. Consistent and logical explanation of these key issues for them likewise involved explanation of value and price, of production theory, of accumulation, and of a theory of distribution, in which emphases differed. Thus Smith in his account stressed increasing returns and growth; earlier Quesnay had emphasised the need for balance to secure genuine develop- ment of the national economy; Ricardo made distributional issues (what determines wages, profits and rent) the centrepoint of his analysis; Malthus concentrated on population growth and its consequences as well as on the role of effective demand; Marx largely examined the impact of accumula- tion on wealth, living standards and distribution.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Austrian School in Bulgaria: a History✩ Nikolay Nenovsky A,*, Pencho Penchev B
    Russian Journal of Economics 4 (2018) 44–64 DOI 10.3897/j.ruje.4.26005 Publication date: 23 April 2018 www.rujec.org The Austrian school in Bulgaria: A history✩ Nikolay Nenovsky a,*, Pencho Penchev b a University of Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France b University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria Abstract The main goal of this study is to highlight the acceptance, dissemination, interpretation, criticism and make some attempts at contributing to Austrian economics made in Bulgaria during the last 120 years. We consider some of the main characteristics of the Austrian school, such as subjectivism and marginalism, as basic components of the economic thought in Bulgaria and as incentives for the development of some original theoreti- cal contributions. Even during the first few years of Communist regime (1944–1989), with its Marxist monopoly over intellectual life, the Austrian school had some impact on the economic thought in the country. Subsequent to the collapse of Communism, there was a sort of a Renaissance and rediscovery of this school. Another contribution of our study is that it illustrates the adaptability and spontaneous evolution of ideas in a different and sometimes hostile environment. Keywords: history of economic thought, dissemination of economic ideas, Austrian school, Bulgaria. JEL classification: B00, B13, B30, B41. 1. Introduction The emergence and development of specialized economic thought amongst the Bulgarian intellectuals was a process that occurred significantly slowly in comparison to Western and Central Europe. It also had its specific fea- tures. The first of these was that almost until the outset of the 20th century, the economic theories and different concepts related to them were not well known.
    [Show full text]
  • New Working Papers Series, Entitled “Working Papers in Technology Governance and Economic Dynamics”
    Working Papers in Technology Governance and Economic Dynamics no. 74 the other canon foundation, Norway Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance CONTACT: Rainer Kattel, [email protected]; Wolfgang Drechsler, [email protected]; Erik S. Reinert, [email protected] 80 Economic Bestsellers before 1850: A Fresh Look at the History of Economic Thought Erik S. Reinert, Kenneth Carpenter, Fernanda A. Reinert, Sophus A. Reinert* MAY 2017 * E. Reinert, Tallinn University of Technology & The Other Canon Foundation, Norway; K. Car- penter, former librarian, Harvard University; F. Reinert, The Other Canon Foundation, Norway; S. Reinert, Harvard Business School. The authors are grateful to Dr. Debra Wallace, Managing Director, Baker Library Services and, Laura Linard, Director of Baker Library Special Collections, at Harvard Business School, where the Historical Collection now houses what was once the Kress Library, for their cooperation in this venture. Above all our thanks go to Olga Mikheeva at Tallinn University of Technology for her very efficient research assistance. Antiquarian book dealers often have more information on economics books than do academics, and our thanks go to Wilhelm Hohmann in Stuttgart, Robert H. Rubin in Brookline MA, Elvira Tasbach in Berlin, and, above all, to Ian Smith in London. We are also grateful for advice from Richard van den Berg, Francesco Boldizzoni, Patrick O’Brien, Alexandre Mendes Cunha, Bertram Schefold and Arild Sæther. Corresponding author [email protected] The core and backbone of this publication consists of the meticulous work of Kenneth Carpenter, librarian of the Kress Library at Harvard Busi- ness School starting in 1968 and later Assistant Director for Research Resources in the Harvard University Library and the Harvard College 1 Library.
    [Show full text]
  • Alfred Marshall on Big Business
    ALFRED MARSHALL ON BIG BUSINESS Jaques Kerstenetzky1 This paper is about the way Alfred Marshall, the champion of the family-owned and -managed firm, approached the phenomenon which Alfred Chandler considered as the emergence of a new kind of capitalism and enterprise, characterized by the presence of corporations.2 The examination of the theme involves history and theory. And, following Marshall’s judgment that history is not a purely inductive practice, nor is theory a purely deductive one, it is an opportunity for reflecting on the historical and institutional content of Marshall’s perusal of firm's nature, size, organization and coordination. The task includes the identification of some connections among the work of the two Alfreds. The theme inevitably refers to the classical issue of the dilemma of increasing returns and competition. The dilemma will be presented as the theoretical context and will work as a unifying thread through the paper. The paper is organized in two parts. The first part is an introduction to the Marshallian approach on business organization issues. It shall place Marshall’s work into historical context, and characterize Marshall’s work in a way which is different from how he is read and was incorporated into economic theory by mainstream economics. The second part specifically approaches Industry and Trade, the book in which Marshall discussed business organization in depth.3 1. Introduction to Marshall’s work on business organization 1.1 The historical and theoretical context of Marshall’s work on business organization The historical economic context of Marshall’s writings is the second industrial revolution, hatched in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Le Pour Et Le Contre. Galiani, La Diplomatie Et Le Commerce Des Blés
    Le pour et le contre. Galiani, la diplomatie et le commerce des blés « Il y a quelque subalterne à Naples qui méritent d’être observé, entre autres l’abbé Galiani, qui aspire à jouer un rôle et croit se faire un mérite en s’opposant de tout son petit pouvoir à ce qui intéresse la France. »1 La plupart des études sur l’abbé Galiani, et particulièrement sur ses Dialogues sur le commerce des blés et sa période parisienne, oscillent entre trois grands pôles : l’histoire littéraire2, l’histoire de la pensée économique3; et l’histoire culturelle des Lumières et des sociabilités4. Ces études fondamentales ont ainsi éclairé les liens intellectuels de Galiani avec les écrivains et philosophes (en particulier Diderot et Grimm), le contenu théorique de sa pensée économique, et son inscription dans les cercles mondains de la capitale française. Cependant, une dimension d’importance semble négligée : l’activité diplomatique de l’abbé, qui ne peut être traitée séparément du reste. En effet, non seulement la « république des lettres » était encastrée dans le jeu du pouvoir, mais Ferdinando Galiani avait pour propriété sociale éminente d’être le chargé d’affaire du Royaume des Deux-Siciles, chargé d’informer le gouvernement de son royaume sur le cours des négociations du Pacte de Famille. Sa présence assidue dans les salons parisiens ne témoigne pas seulement de son goût pour la bonne compagnie et la conversation mondaine, mais de son professionnalisme : hors Versailles, nul espace plus propice, en effet, à la fréquentation des grands5. Si le terme diplomate apparaît tardivement, sous la Révolution semble-t-il, pour désigner le métier de représentant d’une puissance étrangère, la réalité professionnelle lui est antérieure6.
    [Show full text]
  • Neoliberal Reason and Its Forms: Depoliticisation Through
    Neoliberal Reason and Its Forms: De-Politicisation Through Economisation Yahya M. Madra and Fikret Adaman Department of Economics, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey; [email protected] Abstract: This paper offers a historically contextualised intellectual history of the entangled development of three competing post-war economic approaches, viz the Austrian, Chicago and post-Walrasian schools, as three forms of neoliberalism. Taking our cue from Foucault’s reading of neoliberalism as a mode of governmentality under which the social is organised through “economic incentives”, we engage with the recent discussions of neoliberal theory on three accounts: neoliberalism is read as an epistemic horizon including not only “pro-” but also “post-market” positions articulated by post- Walrasian economists who claim that market failures necessitate the design of “incentive-compatible” remedial mechanisms; the Austrian tradition is distinguished from the Chicago-style pro-marketism; and the implications of the differences among the three approaches on economic as well as socio-political life are discussed. The paper maintains that all three approaches promote the de-politicisation of the social through its economisation albeit by way of different theories and policies. Keywords: Michel Foucault, economisation, Austrian School, Chicago School, post- Walrasian School Introduction More than half a decade after the 2008 Crash and with no end in sight to depressive economic conditions, neoliberal reason displays a certain resiliency. In time, the initial calls for intervention and regulation transformed into austerity programs run by technocratic governments. In the absence of a major redistribution of wealth and income, returning to a New Deal arrangement with well paying secure jobs for all, comprehensive social security, free and quality education, accessible healthcare and active government involvement in social welfare, appears to many a nostalgic indulgence.
    [Show full text]
  • Challenging Mercantilism: the Impact of David Hume on the Evolution of Monetary Thought
    Student Economic Review, Vol. 22, 2008 CHALLENGING MERCANTILISM: THE IMPACT OF DAVID HUME ON THE EVOLUTION OF MONETARY THOUGHT ALEXANDER TOFT Senior Sophister Despite its somewhat irrational and outdated nature, mercantilist sentiment is very much alive today. In times of economic slowdown, it often bubbles to the surface of popular economic discourse, threatening to make an unwelcome return to politics and policy. The spirits of mercantilism and protectionism have always gone very much hand in hand. In this paper, Alexander Toft provides an excellent appraisal of David Hume’s monetary thought, in particular examining his attack on the 17th century mercantilist monopoly over economic discourse. Introduction The history of economic thought can be viewed as a series of ideological battles, and key amongst them must rank the debate surrounding the notion that the government has a role to play in ensuring a more favorable balance of trade – what is commonly called mercantilism. Adam Smith is often credited with initiating this debate when he attacked the concept in The Wealth of Nations (Smith, 1776). However, this paper will examine the work of another original detractor from mercantilist thinking, David Hume. A philosopher and historian first and foremost, Hume was also an eminent economist. This paper will argue that through his analysis of the influence of money on inflation and the balance of payments, Hume played a pioneering role in challenging the mercantilist monopoly on economic thought. He contributed towards the development of an alternative theory which centered on free trade, as opposed to a ‘fear of goods’ and ‘love of money’.
    [Show full text]
  • Markets in Higher Education: Can We Still Learn from Economics' Founding Fathers?* Abstract
    Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.4.06 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY http://cshe.berkeley.edu/ MARKETS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: CAN WE STILL LEARN * FROM ECONOMICS’ FOUNDING FATHERS? March 2006 Pedro Nuno Teixeira Assistant Professor of Economics; Research Associate, CEMPRE and CIPES University of Porto and Visiting Scholar, Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley Copyright 2006 Pedro Nuno Teixeira, all rights reserved. ABSTRACT Markets or market-like mechanisms are playing an increasing role in higher education, with visible consequences both for the regulation of higher education systems as a whole, as well as for the governance mechanisms of individual institutions. This article traces the history of economists’ views on the role of education, from Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Alfred Marshall, and Milton Friedman, to present-day debates about the relevance of market economies to higher education policy. Recent developments in higher education policy reflect both the rising strength of market mechanisms in higher education worldwide, and a certain ambivalence about these developments. The author argues that despite the peculiarities of the higher education sector, economic theory can be a very useful tool for the analysis of the current state of higher education systems and recent trends in higher education policy. Introduction Markets or market-like mechanisms are playing an increasing role in higher education, with visible consequences both for the regulation of higher education (HE) * The author is Assistant Professor in the Economics Department at the University of Porto and Research Associate of CEMPRE (Centre for Macroeconomics and Forecasting) and CIPES (Portuguese National Research Centre on Higher Education Policy).
    [Show full text]
  • Marginal Revolution
    MARGINAL REVOLUTION It took place in the later half of the 19th century Stanley Jevons in England, Carl Menger in Austria and Leon walras at Lausanne, are generally regarded as the founders of marginalist school Hermann Heinrich Gossen of Germany is considered to be the anticipator of the marginalist school The term ‘Marginal Revolution’ is applied to the writings of the above economists because they made fundamental changes in the apparatus of economic analysis They started looking at some of the important economic problems from an altogether new angle different from that of classical economists Marginal economists has been used to analyse the single firm and its behavior, the market for a single product and the formation of individual prices Marginalism dominated Western economic thought for nearly a century until it was challenged by Keynesian attack in 1936 (keynesian economics shifted the sphere of enquiry from micro economics to macro economics where the problems of the economy as a whole are analysed) The provocation for the emergence of marginalist school was provided by the interpretation of classical doctrines especially the labour theory of value and ricardian theory of rent by the socialists Socialists made use of classical theories to say things which were not the intention of the creators of those theories So the leading early marginalists felt the need for thoroughly revising the classical doctrines especially the theory of value They thought by rejecting the labour theory of value and by advocating the marginal utility theory of value, they could strike at the theoretical basis of socialism Economic Ideas of Marginalist School This school concentrated on the ‘margin’ to explain economic phenomena.
    [Show full text]
  • The In/Visible Woman: Mariangela Ardinghelli and the Circulation Of
    The In/visible Woman: Mariangela Ardinghelli and the Circulation of Knowledge between Paris and Naples in the Eighteenth Century Author(s): Paola Bertucci Source: Isis, Vol. 104, No. 2 (June 2013), pp. 226-249 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/670946 . Accessed: 29/06/2013 11:12 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The University of Chicago Press and The History of Science Society are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Isis. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 130.132.173.211 on Sat, 29 Jun 2013 11:12:01 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The In/visible Woman Mariangela Ardinghelli and the Circulation of Knowledge between Paris and Naples in the Eighteenth Century By Paola Bertucci* ABSTRACT Mariangela Ardinghelli (1730–1825) is remembered as the Italian translator of two texts by the Newtonian physiologist Stephen Hales, Haemastaticks and Vegetable Staticks. This essay shows that her role in the Republic of Letters was by no means limited to such work.
    [Show full text]
  • Nine Lives of Neoliberalism
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Plehwe, Dieter (Ed.); Slobodian, Quinn (Ed.); Mirowski, Philip (Ed.) Book — Published Version Nine Lives of Neoliberalism Provided in Cooperation with: WZB Berlin Social Science Center Suggested Citation: Plehwe, Dieter (Ed.); Slobodian, Quinn (Ed.); Mirowski, Philip (Ed.) (2020) : Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, ISBN 978-1-78873-255-0, Verso, London, New York, NY, https://www.versobooks.com/books/3075-nine-lives-of-neoliberalism This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215796 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative
    [Show full text]
  • Schools of Economic Thought (Pdf)
    SCHOOLS OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT A BRIEF HISTORY OF ECONOMICS This isn't really essential to know, but may satisfy the curiosity of many. Mercantilism Economics is said to begin with Adam Smith in 1776. Prior to that, nobody thought of economics, or markets, as an object of study. It is not that they didn't pay attention to economic matters, it is simply that they didn't think of it in any systematic or coherent manner. It was all just off-the-cuff intuition and policy proposals by a myriad of merchants, government officials & journalists, principally in Britain. It is common to denote the period before 1776 as "Mercantilism". It wasn't a coherent school of thought, but a hodge-podge of varying ideas about improving tax revenues, the value & movements of gold and how nations competed for international commerce & colonies. Mostly protectionist, 'war-minded', and all haphazardly argued. (the principal features of the Mercantilist school are discussed in our "Gains from Trade" handout). There was some opposition to Mercantilist doctrines, notably among French and Scottish thinkers (e.g. Pierre de Boisguilbert, Francois Quesnay, Jacques Turgot and David Hume) Classical School The Enlightenment era (mid-1700s) in Europe brought a new spirit of scientific inquiry. Thinkers began looking to apply scientific principles not only to the physical world, but also to human society. In the same spirit that Sir Isaac Newton 'discovered' the "law of gravity" to explain the interaction of natural forces and decipher how the physical world operates, Enlightenment thinkers began trying to discover the "laws" of human interaction, to explain how human society operates.
    [Show full text]
  • THE NEOLIBERAL THEORY of SOCIETY Simon Clarke
    THE NEOLIBERAL THEORY OF SOCIETY Simon Clarke The ideological foundations of neo-liberalism Neoliberalism presents itself as a doctrine based on the inexorable truths of modern economics. However, despite its scientific trappings, modern economics is not a scientific discipline but the rigorous elaboration of a very specific social theory, which has become so deeply embedded in western thought as to have established itself as no more than common sense, despite the fact that its fundamental assumptions are patently absurd. The foundations of modern economics, and of the ideology of neoliberalism, go back to Adam Smith and his great work, The Wealth of Nations. Over the past two centuries Smith’s arguments have been formalised and developed with greater analytical rigour, but the fundamental assumptions underpinning neoliberalism remain those proposed by Adam Smith. Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations as a critique of the corrupt and self-aggrandising mercantilist state, which drew its revenues from taxing trade and licensing monopolies, which it sought to protect by maintaining an expensive military apparatus and waging costly wars. The theories which supported the state conceived of exchange as a ‘zero-sum game’, in which one party’s gain was the other party’s loss, so the maximum benefit from exchange was to be extracted by force and fraud. The fundamental idea of Smith’s critique was that the ‘wealth of the nation’ derived not from the accumulation of wealth by the state, at the expense of its citizens and foreign powers, but from the development of the division of labour. The division of labour developed as a result of the initiative and enterprise of private individuals and would develop the more rapidly the more such individuals were free to apply their enterprise and initiative and to reap the corresponding rewards.
    [Show full text]