Economics 8500

History of Economic Thought

Fall 1998

Bruce A. Seaman

LOGISTICS: Class meets TTH: 2:30 - 3:45 P.M.; Sparks Hall #240

OFFICE AND OTHER INFO: 636 CBA Building; Phone: 404-651-2775; e-mail: ecobas@langate.gsu.edu. No formal office hours, but meetings can easily be arranged, or you meet with me after class.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION: This course deals with the development of political economy from its Greek origins through the twentieth century. The continuity of intellectual and economic thought and its relationship to changing social and political settings are stressed. Particular emphasis is placed on the Classical and Neoclassical authors and their critics.

PREREQUISITES: Principles of micro and macro-economics

TEXT: Stanley Brue, The Evolution of Economic Thought, Fifth Edition, Dryden Press, 1994

Note that additional reading is assigned and identified in the course schedule below

COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Three exams, including the final exam. Each exam is weighted equally. Class discussion is encouraged, and a class presentation is required. In addition, a 10-15 page paper is required as further clarified below. Each exam counts for 25% of the grade; the oral presentation is weighted as 10% and the paper as 15% of the final grade.

OTHER POLICIES: While no attendance records are kept, class participation is important, and additional material for the exams is presented in the lectures and discussions. No make-up exams given unless proof of an emergency can be provided. Advance notice of conflicts may be accepted in special circumstances.

COURSE SCHEDULE: Note that October 16 is the last day to withdraw and receive a "W."

Date: Topic and Assigned Reading

8/25: Introduction and Overview

8/27: The Mercantilists and the Physiocrats

Chs. 1,2 and 3

9/1: Examples of Modern Mercantilist Thought

R.B. Ekelund Jr., and R.D. Tollison, "Economic Regulation in Mercantile

England: Heckscher Revisited," Economic Inquiry (18 (October 1980).

Selected article from Journal of Economic Perspectives

9/3: The Physiocrats as a Reaction to Mercantilsm and Precursor to Classical Thought

Anthony Brewer, "Turgot: Founder of Classical Economics," Economica

54 (November 1987).

T. Barna, "Quesnay's Tableau in Modern Guise," Economic Journal, 85

(September 1975).

9/8: No class; Labor Day Holiday

9/10: Intro to Classical Economics

Ch. 4

Tony Aspromourgos, "The Theory of Production and Distribution in

Cantillon's Essai, Oxford Economic Papers, 41 (April 1989).

9/15: The Importance of Adam Smith

Ch. 5

9/17: Adam Smith continued

Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776), Book I, CHs. 1-4; first four pages of Ch. 5; Ch. 1 of Book V

9/22: Malthus and the Modern Debate about Population

Ch. 6

Samuel Hollander, "Malthus's Vision of the Population Problem in the Essay on Population, Journal of History of Economic Thought, 12 (Spring 1990).

9/24: Ricardo, Mill and the other Classical Scholars

Chs. 7 and 8

Robert Dorfman, "Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo," Journal of Economic Perspectives 3 (Summer 1989).

9/29: Review & Summary of Classical Tradition

W.J. Baumol, "Say's (at least) Eight Laws, Or What Say and James Mill May Really Have Meant," Economica, 44 (May 1977).

E. G. West and R. W. Hafer, "J.S. Mill, Unions, and the Wages Fund Recantation: A Reinterpretation, The Quarterly Journal of Economics,

92 (August 1981).

10/1: The Early Socialists

Ch. 9

10/6: EXAM I

10/8: Return and Discuss Exam I; Intro to Marxism

Ch. 10

10/13: Continue Discussion of Marxist Thinking

Finish Ch. 10

Paul Samuelson, "Understanding the Marxian Notion of Exploitation: A Summary of the So-Called Transformation Problem Between Marxian Values and Competitive Prices," Journal of Economic Literature, 9 (June 1971).

Additional commentary on the Samuelson argument by Joan Robinson and

Martin Bronfenbrenner in Journal of Economic Literature, December 1973; and finally, W.J. Baumol and Michio Morishima and a response by

Samuelson on this debate in Journal of Economic Literature, March 1974

10/15: The Modern Radical Tradition; The Union for Radical Political Economics

Supplemental reading from the URPE journal, the Journal of Radical Political Economy

10/20: The German Historical School and its Critics

Chs. 11

Sam Bostaph, "The Methodological Debate between Carl Menger and the

German Historicists," Atlantic Economic Journal, 6 (September 1978).

10/22: Modern Institutionalism; The Journal of Economic Issues

Ch. 19

Donald A. Walker, "Thorstein Veblen's Economic System," Economic Inquiry, 15 (April 1977).

Selected examples of modern institutionalist research

10/27: Conclude Discussion of the Institutionalist Critique

Oral Presentations

10/29: The Marginalist Contribution: Early Work

Chs. 12, 13 and 14

11/3: The Emergence of the Neoclassical Standard: Alfred Marshall and Microeconomics

Ch. 15

11/5: EXAM II

11/10: Return and Discuss Exam; Begin the Macro Debate: Monetary Economics

Ch. 16

11/12: The Macro Debate continued

Oral Presentations

James Tobin, "Neoclassical Theory in America: J.B. Clark and Fisher,"

American Economic Review, 75, no. 6 (December 1985).

11/17: Keynesianism

Chs. 21 and 22

J. M. Keynes, "The General Theory of Employment," Quarterly Journal

of Economics, 51 (February 1937).

11/19: The Reaction to Keynes; Austrians and others

Selected writing of F.A. Hayek

Robert J. Gordon, "What is New-Keynesian Economics?" Journal of

Economic Literature, 28 (September 1990).

11/24: No class; Thanksgiving Holiday

11/26: The Austrians continued; Theory of the Firm and Market Departures from

Pure Competition: The Micro Critique

Ch. 17

Selected writing of the Austrians on microtheory methodology and the

concept of competition; Journal of Austrian Economics

12/1: The Role of Math in Economic Analysis; Welfare Economics

Chs. 18 and 20

12/3: The Role of the Chicago School: Multiple Meanings

` Ch. 24

Melvin W. Reder, "Chicago Economics: Permanence and Change," Journal

of Economic Literature, 20 (March 1982).

12/8: The Economic Growth Debate: Past and Present; Concluding Observations

Chs. 23 and 25

Oral Presentations

FINAL EXAM: To be announed (Final exam schedule still being modified by registrar).