History of Economic Thought

Contents: 1 - INTRODUCTION * The Central Focus of Modern Economic Thought * Divisions of Modern Economic Theory * Our Approach to the History of Thought * Economics as a Profession * The Spread of Economic Ideas * Methodological Issues - Economics as an Art and as a Science - The Importance of Empirical Verification - The Rise of Logical Positivism - From Logical Positivism to Falsification - From Paradigms to Research Programs - From Research Programs to Sociological and Rhetorical Approaches to Method - Postrhetorical Methodology - Methodological Conclusions * Benefits to be Gained from the Study of the History of Economic Thought PART I - PRE-CLASSICAL ECONOMICS 2 - Early Pre-classical Economic Thought * Some Broad Generalizations * Greek Thought (Hesiod and Xenophon; Aristotle) * Scholasticism (The Feudal Foundation of Scholastic Thought * St Thomas Aquinas) 3 - Mercantilism, Physiocracy, and Other Precursors of Classical Economic Thought * Mercantilism * Influential Precursors of Classical Thought - Thomas Mun * William Petty * Bernard Mandeveille * David Hume * Richard Cantillon * Physiocracy PART II - CLASSICAL ECONOMIC THOUGHT, MALTHUS, AND MARX * The Classical Period, 1776-1890 * Classical Political Economy * Marx's Political Economy 4 - ADAM SMITH * Adam Smith and Classical Economics * Smith's Analysis of Markets and Policy Conclusions - Contextual Economic Policy - Natural Order, Harmony, and Laissez Fair - The Working of Competitive Markets - Capital and the Capitalists - The Impact of Smith on Policy * The Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations * Value Theory * Distribution Theory - Wages; Wages Fund Doctrine; Profits; Rent; The Rate of Profit over Time * Welfare and the General Level of Prices [Chapter 5, Book 1] Chapter 5 - RICARDO & MALTHUS * David Ricardo - A Theorist's Theorist - The Period Between Smith's 'Wealth of Nations' and Ricardo's 'Principles' * The Malthusian Population Doctrine - Population Theory as an Intellectual Response to Problems of the Times - The Population Thesis * Ricardo: Method, Policy, Scope - Ricardo's Method - Ricardo and Economic Policy - The Scope of Economics According to Ricardo * Ricardo's Model - An Overview - The Problem of the Times; The Corn Laws - Analytical Tools and Assumptions * Ricardo's Theory of Land Rent - Diminishing Returns - Rent Viewed form the Product Side - Rent Viewed from the Cost Side - A More General View of the Concept of Rent * Ricardo's Value Theory - Ricardo's Labor Cost Theory of Value - Competitively Produced Goods - Difficulties of a Labor Cost Theory of Value - Did Ricardo Hold a Labor Theory of Value? * Ricardian Distribution Theory - Distribution Theory - Distributi

This text surveys the main streams of thought in economic theory. The survey provides an overview of the preclassical schools,i.e.: scholastics, mercantilists, and physiocrats. The scholastics and mercantilists called for govermental intervention in the growing market economy. The mercantilists, in England, went so far as to call for the regulation of trade. Albeit, the physiocrats in France held that the government should leave the market alone. Therefore, the physiocrates influenced and set the tone for Smith and many classical economists to come. Modern classical economics considers Adam Smith as its father. Smith, a product of the U.K.'s traditions, examines economics in the context of the middle to late 1700s. In his seminal thesis ... The Wealth of Nations, professor Smith believed laissez faire, or nongovernmental intervention, would allow a competitive market to best promote the economic growth needed to meet the consumers' needs. Landreth and Colander, further, discuss the classical economic theories of Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill. The former reverend, Malthus held population growth would outstrip the food supply. He failed to account for improvements in technology. Mr. Ricardo developed pure, or noncontextual, theories such as scarcity and diminishing returns. One note, Ricardo favored free trade while Malthus suggested tariffs could be beneficial to a nation. Mill, at one time a member of parliament, believed there were injustices inherent in a capitalist economy. Also covered by this text are the ideas of Karl Marx. Marx rejected the orthodox classical theories of capitalistic economies. He purported that "dialectical materialism", a theory of history, should be applied to analysis of the capitalist's economy. Moreover, Dr. Marx predicted a collapse of capitalism caused by class conflict. However, this generally has not occured. Paradoxically, for the scribbler most often associated with communism: Marx mainly discussed and analyzed capitalism. The text goes into some detail about the neoclassical school as formulated by Menger, Jevons, Walras, and Marshall. Yet, the role of much neoclassical economics is overstated in the second edition of this work. Nevertheless, professor Alfred Marshall demonstrated the importance of both supply and demand in achieving dynamic equilibrium. Professor Marshall also warns against the excessive use of mathematics in economic calculus. He suggested to his students that economic models need to be practical so as to reflect reality. History of Economic Theory covers both the development of modern microeconomics and macroeconomics. As for the development of macroeconomics; John Maynard Keynes' theories are introduced quite methodically. In his 1936 book, The General Theory ..., Sir Keynes felt the unstable market needed governmental assistance to achieve full employment equilibrium. Keynes' ideas were used by President F.D. Roosevelt to help the U

As a former student of Dr. Harry Landreth, I had the honor of learning economic theory under his expert tutelage. This book helps you appreciate and understand the theories and thinking that helped shape our world. A must for any serious student of economics; this book is hailed by academics as THE book on this subject, and I do not disagree.

An excellent overview of the history of economic thought. I used this text in my course on the history of economic thought. I highly recommend it! The authors cover, in great detail, such critical items as the preclassical areas of thought, mercantillism, Malthus, Marx, Ricardo, and the transition to Neoclassical economics. The discussion of the modern Microeconomic Theory is also a must for any fan of economics.