About: The year 1883 portends changes in perspective for economic philosophy: Marx dies, and Keynes and Schumpeter are born. Born in Morovia and studying at the University of Vienna, Schumpeter’s life included work in government, industry, and academia. While not very successful as a minister of finance or bank president, Schumpeter has been lauded in …
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Karl Marx (1818-1883)
About: Influential Books and Other Writings: The Communist Manifesto (1848) Das Kapital, three volumes (1867–1883) Key Concepts:
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935)
About: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. had a long and varied career, culminating as a supreme court justice. Menard provides insight into Holmes’ economic views: “In the seventy years that Holmes lived after the war [American Civil War 1861-1865], the chief struggle in America was the struggle between capital and labor. Nearly every judicial opinion for …
The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America
Menard’s (2002)The Metaphysical Club, provides an in-depth view of many of the ideas. Through a series of lenses, Menard sets the stage to explore the formation of ideas,including American pragmatism and pluralism. The book culminates in an in-depth look at the lives—and influences that shaped those lives—of Charles Pierce, James Williams, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and …
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References
Menand, L. (2002). The metaphysical club: A story of ideas in America. Macmillan. Skidelsky, R. (2020). What’s Wrong with Economics?. Yale University Press.
Classical Economists
Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)
About: Over 200 years ago, Malthus theorized about the consequences of population growth. Some people still use Malthusian theory as a basis for representing population growth in today’s global economy. Using a system that included the proportion of proportion of births to marriages as well as births to burials, Malthus theorized that population growth is …
American Revolution
Adam Smith
About: Also known as the father of capitalism, Smith’s book, Wealth of Nations, provides the foundation of modern capitalist theory. The key elements of the classical free market economy (capitalism) include a focus on how the roles of self-interest and competition balance one another. The free market is a curious paradox and “self-regulates”, guarding against …