The History of Economic Thought

This paper analyzes the effects of changes in relative commodity prices on the distribution of income among factors of production in the context of two models of a simple, two-good economy. In the first model capital is treated as a specific factor in each industry, with labor mobile between industries. The assumption of specificity determines the direction of factor income changes, with magnitudes depending on substitutability between factors and on intensities of factor use within the two industries. In the second model, capital is viewed as a quasi-fixed factor. For the short run, this model is identical to the model first considered. For the long run, this model is identical to the Stolper-Samuelson model in which the direction and magnitude of factor income changes depend solely on relative factor intensities. The difference between the short-run and long-run determinants of changes in factor incomes gives rise to a conflict between factor owners' short-run and long-run interests.

Mary Theresa Rankin (lived 1882–1962, MA Edinburgh 1910, DPhil Oxford 1919) taught economics at the University of Edinburgh from 1921 to 1953, continuing the monetary tradition of her teacher Joseph Shield Nicholson. Five years older than the economic historian Isabel Frances Grant, Rankin was a pathbreaker for women in economics in Scotland. Her first two books examined wage-setting in Australia and New Zealand, but she wrote primarily on monetary economics, in papers collected as Monetary Opinions and Policy, 1924–34 (1935) and in later articles such as “British and American Monetary Plans” ( The Scotsman, 1943). She was often invited to pronounce of monetary controversy in The Scotsman, for example responding to John Maynard Keynes’s 1933 Times articles “The Means to Prosperity.” Rankin’s vigorous, eloquent, and, in Scotland, influential upholding of the Nicholson tradition in monetary economics against Keynesian innovations has been overlooked in the history of interwar British monetary economics, which has focused on Cambridge, Oxford and LSE, a literature in which Rankin has been doubly marginalized as a woman in Scotland, and in the history of economics in Scotland, which has not focused on the entry of women. This chapter examines Rankin’s monetary economics and her role in interwar and wartime monetary debates. JEL Classifications: B31 History of Economic Thought: Individuals; B31 History of Economic Thought since 1925: Macroeconomics; E Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

Dennis R. Appleyard of Davidson College reviews “Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics” edited by Mark Blaug and Peter Lloyd. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Fifty-eight papers examine figures and diagrams commonly used in economic theory, their roles in economic analysis, and their histories. The figures and diagrams discussed fall under the categories of basic tools of demand and supply curve analysis; welfare economics; special markets and topics; basic tools of general equilibrium analysis; open economies; macroeconomic analysis and stabilization; and growth, income distribution, and other topics. Blaug is Professor Emeritus at the University of London and the University of Buckingham. Lloyd is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics at the University of Melbourne. Index. Subject Descriptor(s): History of Economic Thought through 1925: General B10 History of Economic Thought since 1925: General B20 Microeconomics: General D00 Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics: General E00”

Introduction. David Ricardo is a very prominent figure in the history of economic thought. He is a recognized leader in classical political economy and a reputable financier in both Britain and Europe in the first half of the XIX century. He is rightly considered one of the creators of the labor theory of value, he has brought it to its logical conclusion. The scientist made a significant contribution to the development of a scientific method for studying economic phenomena.Purpose of the research is to generalize the economic views of a prominent scientist on economic phenomena and processes, the action of economic laws that ensure the balance of a market economy and the basic principles of economic liberalism; analyze the Ricardo’s views on the laws of social wealth distribution between three classes of society and the impact of the existing distribution of income on the growth of wealth.Methods. The methodological basis of the study are such general scientific methods as analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction, which were used to assess the views, conclusions and recommendations of the scientist to ensure market equilibrium and increase the material wealth of society; historical – to understand the essence of the evolution of existing views on the labor theory of value, the theory of money and land rent; combining the abstract method with quantitative analysis to determine the quantitative characteristics of economic phenomena; positive and normative – to study the main and distinctive features in the views of representatives of classical political economy.Results. It has been researched the David Ricardo’s scientific work and it has been established that he was a prominent representative of classical political economy, a follower and at the same time an opponent of certain theoretical positions of Adam Smith. It was found that the most important ideas of economic theory have been reflected in his labor theory of value, the theory of capital and money, the theory of income distribution, tax theory and the theory of comparative advantage in international trade. It was established that the scientist had made a significant contribution to the development of the scientific method of research, in particular, by introducing the method of convergence from the abstract to the concrete and widespread use of the method of scientific deduction. According to the scientist, the subject of political economy should be the study of the laws of distribution of income between classes of society in the form of rents, profits and wages. D. Ricardo made a significant contribution to the justification of free trade policy in the international sphere, the importance and profitability of foreign trade for countries.Discussion. The prospect for further research is a deeper and more detailed analysis of the methods used by the scientist in the study of economic phenomena and processes. This will allow assessing the Ricardo’s contribution to the formation and development of economics more objective.

The allocation and distribution of a country's income in the 4.0 era need to be given special attention so that it can be allocated efficiently by each individual. The efficiency of allocation and distribution of income in a capitalist economic system has an impact on income inequality in society which can lead to conflict and also creates poverty. But in achieving this prosperity, it is as if there is no government intervention. This study aims to explore how the allocation and distribution of state income are seen from an Islamic economic perspective and also to compare the capitalist distribution system with the Islamic distribution system in the 4.0 era. The research method used is library research which originates from books, journals, the internet, and other relevant sources. The results of the study show that the allocation and distribution of state income from an Islamic economic point of view is an economic concept that has the concept of equal distribution of wealth or income for the community, applicable in Indonesia, which will produce prosperity for the community. The comparison of the capitalist distribution system is based on absolute ownership of the factors of production so that the main goal is to make a profit. As much as possible appears to ignore moral and social values. The Islamic economic distribution system in the era of disruption upholds moral and social values because, in addition to achieving good profitability, Islam also teaches problems in economic activities. With Islamic economic equality, it is hoped that it can reduce the gap in economic inequality to realize prosperity. Therefore, sharia distribution can be carried out by prioritizing Islamic business ethics which is implemented through the concept of Rahmatan lil 'Alamin in the economy. Likewise, in Indonesia, where the majority of the population is Muslim, special attention is needed so that it can implement the allocation and distribution of state income through the concepts of Zakat, Infak, Shadaqah, and Wakaf adapted to the times.

Introductory textbooks in the History of Economic Thought in use at colleges and universities devote little space to Scholasticism and its influence. Even those that do not start straight with the Physiocrats, Thomas Aquinas appears stuck between Ancient Greek Philosophers and Thomas Mun. Scholasticism with “medieval” economic thought characterized as primitive and focused on “obsolete” issues like usury and just price. Sometimes it is even categorized among the schools that promote State intervention1. This was not the opinion of F.A. Hayek, who appreciated some Scholastic authors as part of the individualistic tradition of Western civilization rooted on the legacy of Ancient Greeks and Romans like Pericles, Thucydides, Cicero and Tacitus2. In his famous Road to Serfdom (1944) F.A. Hayek assumed that Western Civilization had abandoned the right road and the individualistic tradition by the last quarter of the XIX Century. The abandoned road that Hayek refers to is that grounded on Greek, Roman and Medieval tradition and later paved by the ideas of authors like Cobden, Bright, De Tocqueville, Lord Acton, Adam Smith, Hume, Locke or Milton3. Hilaire Belloc4 located the abandonment of the liberal tradition around the same historical time. He would have agreed with most of the names in Hayek´s list, especially Cobden and Bright, but would have added those of radicals like Fox and Cobbett. Regarding more far away sources of Western thought, he would have included Aristotle, Aquinas and the Spanish Jesuit Francisco Suárez.Some of the authors mentioned above represent different traditions in the political philosophy. These traditions could be referred as the “old” and the “new”, following Leo Strauss in the idea of Machiavelli as the turning point. This essay approaches the influence of the political philosophy in the changes referred by Hayek and Belloc by examining the differences between the old and the new concept of community.

History of Economic Thought - History of Economic Analysis, by Joseph A. Schumpeter. Edited from manuscript by Elizabeth Boody Schumpeter. New York: Oxford University Press, 1954. Pp. xxv, 1260. $17.50. - Volume 15 Issue 3

The study of the history of economics in Australia has just gone through an existential struggle of the greatest significance. On the surface it was only the most trivial of matters, a proposed clerical change in the classification of the History of Economic Thought by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). But, insignificant as it might at first appear, it was a proposal that had the potential to all but eliminate the history of economics as a legitimate academic study within Australia. The core issue was whether History of Economic Thought and Economic History were to be included as sub-disciplines of economics within the ABS classification system. The ABS proposal was that both groups were to be placed in an entirely separate category under the heading, `History, Archaeology, Religion and Philosophy?. Neither would any longer be classified in any way as belonging to the study of economics. It was this proposal that commenced a short but ultimately successful campaign to have both areas retain their position within the economics classification. But, short as it was, and as narrow as the issues might seemingly be, into this campaign was brought a national and international array of economists which included presidents of international societies in the history of economic thought, economists from throughout the upper levels of the public service in Australia, historians of economics from across the world and which even included the strong views of the 2006 Nobel prize winner in economic theory ...

Travelers' Tales: Their Values and Virtues

The Principal Problem in Political Economy: Income Distribution in the History of Economic Thought

Francois Quesnay’s achievement is one of the most remarkable in the history of economics. He published his first article on an economic problem in 1756 when he was 62 years old, and in the following twelve years he produced a series of influential articles and successive versions of his famous Tableau Economique. He also became the centre of the first school of economists, the Physiocrats or Economistes of pre-revolutionary France. The Tableau has two multipliers, one of them almost Keynesian, and Leontief has said that he was following Quesnay when he constructed his input-output table of the United States economy in 1941.1 Marx, who according to Schumpeter derived his fundamental conception of the economic process as a whole from Quesnay,2 called it ‘an extremely brilliant conception, incontestably the most brilliant for which political economy had up to then been responsible’,3 and in 1935 Schumpeter himself described Quesnay as one of the four greatest economists of all time.4

Previous articleNext article No AccessA Model for the Explanation of Industrial Expansion during the Nineteenth Century: With an Application to the American Iron IndustryRobert W. Fogel and Stanley L. EngermanRobert W. Fogel Search for more articles by this author and Stanley L. Engerman Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Political Economy Volume 77, Number 3May - Jun., 1969 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/259518 Views: 12Total views on this site Citations: 16Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1969 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Richard H. Steckel Robert W. Fogel (1926–2013), (Jan 2023): 773–788.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-01775-9_30David Mitch The Contributions of Robert Fogel to Cliometrics, (Aug 2019): 33–59.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00181-0_49David Mitch The Contributions of Robert Fogel to Cliometrics, (Oct 2018): 1–27.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40458-0_49-1Robert C. Allen American Exceptionalism as a Problem in Global History, The Journal of Economic History 74, no.22 (May 2014): 309–350.https://doi.org/10.1017/S002205071400028XDavid Greasley, Les Oxley Clio and the Economist: Making Historians Count, (Sep 2011): 1–20.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444346725.ch1David Greasley, Les Oxley CLIO AND THE ECONOMIST: MAKING HISTORIANS COUNT, Journal of Economic Surveys 24, no.55 (Oct 2010): 755–774.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2010.00649.xJoseph H. Davis, Douglas A. Irwin The antebellum U.S. iron industry: Domestic production and foreign competition, Explorations in Economic History 45, no.33 (Jul 2008): 254–269.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2007.10.002Douglas A. Irwin Could the United States Iron Industry Have Survived Free Trade after the Civil War?, Explorations in Economic History 37, no.33 (Jul 2000): 278–299.https://doi.org/10.1006/exeh.2000.0741Peter J. Taylor Building on Construction: An Exploration of Heterogeneous Constructionism, Using an Analogy from Psychology and a Sketch from Socioeconomic Modeling, Perspectives on Science 3, no.11 (Feb 1995): 66–98.https://doi.org/10.1162/posc_a_00474C.Knick Harley The antebellum American tariff: Food exports and manufacturing, Explorations in Economic History 29, no.44 (Oct 1992): 375–400.https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-4983(92)90001-DRobert William Fogel Notes on the Social Saving Controversy, The Journal of Economic History 39, no.11 (May 2010): 1–54.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050700096285John A James The welfare effects of the antebellum tariff: A general equilibrium analysis, Explorations in Economic History 15, no.33 (Jul 1978): 231–256.https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-4983(78)90009-8Rainer Fremdling Railroads and German Economic Growth: A Leading Sector Analysis with a Comparison to the United States and Great Britain, The Journal of Economic History 37, no.33 (May 2010): 583–604.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050700095395 Paul L. Joskow , and Edward F. McKelvey The Fogel-Engerman Iron Model: A Clarifying Note, Journal of Political Economy 81, no.55 (Oct 2015): 1236–1240.https://doi.org/10.1086/260117Clayne Pope The impact of the ante-bellum tariff on income distribution, Explorations in Economic History 9 (Jan 1971): 375–421.https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-4983(71)90067-2Paul A. David Learning By Doing and Tariff Protection: A Reconsideration of the Case of the Ante-Bellum United States Cotton Textile Industry, The Journal of Economic History 30, no.33 (Feb 2011): 521–601.https://doi.org/10.1017/S002205070008623X

The economic system is a set of institutional arrangements used for the repartition of Resources. The economic systems are identified in function of their characteristics such as law of ownership, informational mechanisms, levels of responsibilities, authority of taking decision, and the incentive arrangements. The economic systems are considered as spectrum of arrangements for the types of economic systems such as decentralized, capitalist, incentive, social planned. The dichotomies within these systems bring us to the question to understand the differences between these types of systems and modelling the phases of transition towards an efficient system. We are using within this synthesis the historical economic thoughts analysis to diagnosis the transition towards an efficient economic system.

Research Article| December 01 2002 Graduate Studies in the History of Economic Thought Ted Gayer Ted Gayer Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2002) 34 (Suppl_1): 35–61. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-34-Suppl_1-35 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Ted Gayer; Graduate Studies in the History of Economic Thought. History of Political Economy 1 December 2002; 34 (Suppl_1): 35–61. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-34-Suppl_1-35 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsHistory of Political Economy Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Duke University Press2002 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

(1988). The Minsky-Simons Connection: A Neglected Thread in the History of Economic Thought. Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 533-544.