History of Economic Thought


University of Arkansas
ECON 4033 Spring 1996

Professor David E.R. Gay,
Department of Economics
BADM 419, x6222, dgay@comp.uark.edu
Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201


TR 2:00 - 3:20 p.m., BADM 433
Office Hours: TR 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., and by mutual agreement.

Course Outline

1995-96 Catalog Description:

"Historical, critical analysis of economic theories relative to their instructional background. Prerequisite: ECON 2013 and 2023, or 2143."

Text:

New Ideas From Dead Economists, Todd G. Buchholz, Plume/Penguin, New York, 1989 (paperback; $8.75 used, $11.95 new).

Required Readings (Make notes prior to class for which readings are assigned )

  • 1. "Ancestor Worship And Abuse," George J. Stigler, Memoirs of An Unregulated Economist, Basic Books: New York, 1988, pp. 206-220.

  • 2. "Does Economics Have a Useful Past?" George J. Stigler, History of Political Economy, Fall 1969, 1, 217-30.

  • 3. "Nobel Lecture: The Process and Progress of Economics," George J. Stigler, Journal of Political Economy, 1983, 91, 529-545.

  • 4. "Adam Smith's View of Man," R.H. Coase, Journal of Law and Economics, October 1976, 19, 529-546.

  • 5. "Adam Smith in the Customhouse," Gary M. Anderson, William F. Shughart, II, and Robert D. Tollison, Journal of Political Economy, 1985, 93, 740-759.

  • 6. "Remembering Adam Smith," Herbert Stein, "Wall Street Journal," April 6, 1994.

  • 7. "Was There a Marginal Revolution?" Mark Blaug, History of Political Economy, Fall 1972, 4, 269-280.

  • 8. "Sidelines," Forbes Magazine, May 23, 1983, pp. 124-132.

  • 9. "The Keynesian Revolution and the Monetarist Counter-Revolution," Harry G. Johnson, American Economic Review, May 1971, 81, 1-14.

  • 10. "The Search for Keynes," The Economist, Dec. 26, 1992-January 8, 1993, pp. 108-110.

  • 11. William Breit, "Biography and the Making of Economic Worlds," Southern Economic Journal, April 1987, 53, 823-833.

  • 12. William Breit, "Creating the 'Virginia School': Charlottesville as an Academic Environment in the 1960's," Economic Inquiry, October 1987, 25, 645-657.

  • 13. Mark Blaug, "Not Only an Economist-Autobiographical Reflections of a Historian of Economic Thought," American Economist, Fall 1994, 38, 12-27.

  • 14. Ingrid H. Rima, "The Role of Numeracy in the History of Economic Analysis," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Fall 1994, 16, 188-201.

  • 15. Conrad P. Waligorski, "Introduction," The Political Theory of Conservative Economists, University Press of Kansas: Lawrence, 1990, pp. 3-17.

  • 16. Herbert Stein, "Conservatives, Economists, and Neckties," National Association of Business Economists, 1982, reprinted in Washington Bedtime Stories: The Politics of Money and Jobs, Free Press: NY, 1986, pp. 50-60.

    Format:

    Lectures, readings and discussion.

    Evaluations:

    Since this is a senior level seminar class, you will need to be well prepared for class in order to contribute to the class time. There will be four equally weighted exams, (and a senior paper for A&S students), for 400 (or 500) points. Exams will be given only at the scheduled times listed in this outline so that you can count on those days as exam days. As a history of economic thought class, there will not be a final examination (covering hundreds of years of ideas).

    Course grades are only assigned when all of the course work is completed. Grades will not be "posted" but will be sent directly from the Registrar's Office (or you can leave a self-addressed, stamped envelope on the last class day and I will send it directly to you by May 15th). The timing depends upon the work involved to read and to score your term papers during the busy month of April and early May. Course grade questions will only be handled on a case by case basis during the first week of my next period of employment at the University of Arkansas (expected to be during the second summer term 1996). Class materials are not kept after Dead Day (except for your senior paper.)

    A&S students must complete a well-crafted senior paper. It will provide the opportunity for you to pursue a topic and to describe, discuss and explain, a topic in depth. You and I will need to discuss the subject area. I will have to approve the topic, to ensure that it does not overlap our class assignments. The paper must deal with economic thought, instead of economic history or other related aspects. The preliminary four page reference search and proposal is due February 10th with the typed paper due March 29, 1996, in class. Minimum length is 15 pages of text (250 words per page, excluding "a, an, the") with footnotes and references at the end of the text (use the "History of Political Economy" reference method and internal text citations). Staple the completed paper once in the upper left corner. Keep a copy for yourself. I will keep the one submitted. It should be graded and temporarily returned at the end of April or early May. This constitutes the required senior writing paper for students in the Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences.

    Recommendations:

  • 1. Review the assigned materials prior to class.

  • 2. Prior to class complete a one page statement analysis of the facts and issues in each reading. These may be collected in class at the beginning of the period, and possibly graded.

  • 3. Concentration in the classroom will focus your own reviewing.

  • 4. Contributing to the discussion will aid you and stimulate further learning.

  • 5. Focus on contributions of various economists to economic theory and policy analysis in your reading.

  • 6. The readings are available in the Reserve Room of the library.

  • 7. Copies of old exams are available in the Quiz File in the Reserve Room.

    The University policy on academic honesty applies to all work in this course. The 1995-96 Undergraduate Studies catalog explains definitions and sanctions on pages 49-52. Reprinted below are the statements on academic honesty and term paper assistance.

    Definitions

    Academic dishonesty involves acts which may subvert or compromise the integrity of the educational process that University of Arkansas. Included is an act by which a student gains or attempts to gain an academic advantage for himself or herself or another by misrepresenting his or her or another's work or by interfering with the completion, submission, or evaluation of work. These include, but are not limited to, accomplishing or attempting any of the following acts:

  • 1. Altering of grades or official records.

  • 2. Using any materials that are not authorized by the instructor for use during an examination.

  • 3. Copying from another student's paper during an examination.

  • 4. Collaborating during an examination with any other person by giving or receiving information without specific permission of the instructor.

  • 5. Stealing, buying, or otherwise obtaining information about an unadministered examination.

  • 6. Collaborating on laboratory work, take-home examination, homework, or other assigned work when instructed to work independently.

  • 7. Substituting for another person or permitting any other person to substitute for oneself to take an examination.

  • 8. *Submitting as one's own any theme, report, term paper, essay, computer program, other written work, speech, painting, drawing, sculpture, or other art work prepared totally or in part by another.

  • 9. *submitting, without specific permission of the instructor, work that has been previously offered for credit in another course.

  • 10. *Plagiarizing, that is, the offering as one's own work the words, ideas, or arguments of another person without appropriate attribution by quotation, reference, or footnote. Plagiarism occurs both when the words of another are reproduced without acknowledgment or when the ideas or arguments of another are paraphrased in such a way as to lead the reader to believe that they organized with the writer. It is the responsibility of all University students to understand the methods of proper attribution and to apply those principles in all materials submitted.

  • 11. Sabotaging of another students work.

  • 12. Falsifying or committing forgery on any University form or document.

  • 13. Submitting altered or falsified data as experimental data from laboratory projects, survey research, or other field research.

  • 14. Committing any willful act of dishonesty that interferes with the operation of the academic process.

  • 15. Facilitating or aiding in any act of academic dishonesty.

    Term Paper Assistance

    The use of services of term paper assistance companies is a violation of university policies on academic integrity. Student submission of such research or term papers to meet requirements of any class or degree program is expressly prohibited and constitutes academic dishonesty. Any violation of this prohibition will automatically result in both punitive action by the instructor (e.g., the award of a grade of "F" for the course) and a referral of each violation to the All-University Judiciary Committee for its consideration.

    Attendance

    "Students are expected to be diligent in the pursuit of their studies and regular in their class attendance. Students have the responsibility of making arrangements satisfactory to the instructor regarding all absences. Such arrangements should be made prior to the absence if possible. Policies of making up work missed as a result of absence are at the discretion of the instructor, and students should inform themselves at the beginning of each semester concerning the policies of their instructors." - Undergraduate Studies Catalog, 1995-96, p. 51.

    In our class this means that you should check with students about any changes in the schedule, assignments, obtain notes, and so forth. Attending class is a choice that you make, along with the degree of participation in class. College is a place of learning. Learning can be active as well as passive. When you attend class you should participate. Classrooms are places of learning and you are expected to contribute to the assignment for the day. Like many things, attendance is simply priced. Regardless of the reason (official or unofficial absences) you are limited to three free class absences. Any further absences are priced. Any additional three absences (or any fraction thereof) costs a letter grade per time. Like exams, homework, pop quizzes, and so forth, excessive absences are "priced" to provide the incentive for you to attend class (and to hopefully be an active learner). If there is a problem please see me by Tuesday, January 23, 1996. If a problem arises in the semester, please see me.

    Other Policies

    Your right to privacy is explained in the July 1994 "Faculty Handbook" (p. 50):

    "Campus Council policy affirms the 'Fundamental responsibility of instructors to inform students of their progress in courses as accurately and completely as

    possible.' However, the Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, prohibits disclosure of personally identifiable education records without prior written consent. Accordingly, faculty should ensure that grade information posted or made available through graded papers left for collection in public places (such as offices or hallways) is not 'personally identifiable.' The Department of Education Regulations for the Act define 'personally identifiable' information as that data or information which includes (1) the name of the student, the student's parent, or other family members; (2) the student's address; (3) a personal identifier (such as a social security number or student number); or (4) a list of personal characteristics, or other information which would make the student's identity easily traceable."

    Equal treatment for all is endorsed in the spring of 1983 by the UA Campus Council (amended in the fall of 1991), and is stated in the 1995-96 Undergraduate Studies catalog (p. 538):

    "The Campus Council...does not condone discriminatory treatment of students or staff on the basis of age, disability, ethnic origin, marital status, race, religious commitment, sex, or sexual orientation in any of the activities conducted on this campus. Members of the faculty are requested to be sensitive to this issue when, for example, presenting lecture material, when assigning seating within the classroom, when selecting groups for laboratory experiments, and when assigning student work. The University faculty, administration, and staff are committed to provide an equal educational opportunity to all students."

    Our work will conform to these guidelines. According to the UA instructions for reporting final grades, they reflect the following:

  • A-Outstanding achievement, given to a relatively small number of excellent scholars-90+

  • B-Good achievement-80+

  • C-Average achievement-70+

  • D-Poor, but passing work-60+

  • F-Failure, given for unsatisfactory work. No credit is earned for courses in which a grade of "F" is recorded.-below 60

    Some Special Dates

    January 20 - Last Day to Add a Class/Register

    February 1 - Auguste Walras' Birthday (1801)

    February 8 - EXAM A; Joseph A. Schumpeter's Birthday (1883)

    February 15 - Senior Paper Proposal & Reference Search Due

    February 13 - Thomas Robert Malthus'Birthday (1766)

    February 15 - Jeremy Bentham's Birthday (1748)

    March 7 - EXAM B

    March 9 - Wealth of Nations Published (1776)

    March 26 - Ernst Engel's Birthday (1821)

    March 28 - Senior Paper Due

    March 29 - Last Day to Drop a Class

    April 8 - John R. Hicks' Birthday (1904)

    April 4 - EXAM C

    April 18 - David Ricardo's Birthday (1772)

    April 19 - Eugene Slutsky's Birthday (1880)

    April 24 - EXAM D; Leave SASE for course grade and/or Exam D.

    April 30 - Simon Kuznets' Birthday (1901)

    April/May - (Temporary) Return of Graded Term Papers

    May 5 - Dead Day; No class materials kept after this date

    May 6-12 - Final Exams

    Additional references (selected):

    In addition to your texts, there are several other secondary sources that you might find helpful. The reference section of the library contains The New Palgrave, edited by John Eatwell, Murray Milgate, and Peter Newman (4 volumes) Macmillan 1987 (HB/61/.N49), and Dictionary of Political Economy, edited by R.H. Inglis Palgrave (3 volumes), Macmillan, 2nd ed., 1925 (HB/61/.P17). Another encyclopedic source is Joseph A. Schumpeter's History of Economic Analysis (Oxford: New York, 1954).

    Four general accounts are Economics in Perspective: A Critical History, by John Kenneth Galbraith (Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1987); The Worldly Philosophers, by Robert L. Heilbronner; Essays in Biography, by John Maynard Keynes (ca. 1933); and Ten Great Economists, by Joseph A. Schumpeter (ca. 1950).

    For ten modern autobiographical sketches of US recipients of the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences, see Lives of the Laureates, 2nd ed., edited by William Breit and Roger W. Spencer (MIT Press, 1990).

    George Stigler's Memoirs of an Unregulated Economist (Basic Books, 1988) is a lively account of his life and profession.

    James M. Buchanan's Better Than Plowing and Other Personal Essays (University of Chicago Press, 1992) is a revealing personal history.

    Also you might be attracted to a book featuring political science and economics by Conrad P. Waligorski of the University of Arkansas, The Political Theory of Conservative Economists (University Press of Kansas, 1990).

    For an early discussion of methodology see The Scope and Method of Political Economy, by John Neville Keynes (1890, or successive editions).

    For broadly based views of economics see Economics as a Science by Kenneth E. Boulding (McGraw-Hill, 1970), the introductory material (primarily Part I, chapters 1 and 2) in Joseph A. Schumpeter's History of Economics Analysis (Oxford University, 1954), and Appendix C ("The Scope and Method of Economics") and Appendix D ("Uses of Abstract Reasoning in Economics") in Principles of Economics by Alfred Marshall, 8th ed., (Macmillan, 1920).

    You can enhance your writing with careful use of Donald N. McCloskey's The Writing of Economics (Macmillan, 1987) which is available in the reserve room of the library. Especially note item 2 Writing Is Thinking, item 3 Rules Can Help, But Bad Rules Hurt, item 4 Be Thou Clear, item 8 Write Too Early Rather Than Too Late, and item 14 Paragraphs Should Have Points.

    Tentative Course Schedule

    I. Pre-classicists

    Jan. 16 - Background Search - 1 - 1

    Jan. 18 - Theory and Individuals (Discussion) - 1 - 2, 11

    Jan. 23 - Greeks and Scholastics - 1

    Jan. 25 - Mercantilists - 1 - 3

    II. Classicists

    Jan. 30 - Adam Smith's Moral Philosophy - 2 - 4

    Feb. 01 - Smith's Economic System - 2 - 6

    Feb. 06 - Selected Topics & Smith - 2 - 5

    Feb. 08 - EXAM A - 1-2, 1-6, 11

    Feb. 13 - Malthus's Essay - 3

    Feb. 15 - Ricardo's Conquest of Economics; Prop. & Ref. DUE - 4

    Feb. 20 - Public Policy Debates - 4

    Feb. 22 - Analytical Contributions - 4

    Feb. 27 - Ricardo & Malthus - 4

    Feb. 29 - John Stuart Mill's Method - 5

    Mar 5 - Mill's Analytics; Review

    Mar 7 - EXAM B - 3-5

    III. Marx, Marginalism, & Marshall

    Mar 12 - Marx on the Past & Future of Capitalism - 6

    Mar 14 - Great Contradiction - 6

    Mar 19/21 - UA Spring Break (Holiday)

    Mar 26 - Lenin & Stalin's Modifications

    Mar 28 - Alfred Marshall's Marginalism - 7 - 7

    Apr 2 - EXAM C - 6-7 - 7

    Apr 4 - Alfred Marshall's Analytics I - 7

    Apr 9 - Marshall's Analytics II - 7

    IV. Neoclassicists

    Apr 11 - Old & New Institutionalists - 8

    Apr 16 - Legacies of Keynes - 9 - 10

    Apr 18 - Monetarist Counterrevolution - 10 - 9, 12

    Apr 23 - Public Choice - 11 - 15, 16

    Apr 25 - EXAM D - 7-11 - 9, 10, 12-16


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