ECTS : 6
Description du contenu de l'enseignement :
Overview
Following an introductory class on the methodology of economics and the conditions under which it might be considered a scientific endeavour akin to the natural sciences rather than a descriptive and hermeneutic endeavour akin to history or political science, the basic structure of the course is chronological (see plan below). Different theoretical approaches are presented in the context of their times and illustrated with simple numerical examples or diagrams that could also figure in introductory textbooks of micro- and macroeconomics. Wherever possible and pertinent, historical questions are linked to contemporary economic questions, e.g., Aristotle’s chrematistics and what constitutes a “good life”, Mandeville and the question of ethics in economics, mercantilism and modern trade disputes, the physiocrats and the question of natural resources, Ricardo and modern sources of rent, Marxism and the theory of crises, Veblen and the conspicuous consumption of leisure in the time of Facebook. Adam Smith, as the proponent of decentralised auto-organisation, the marginalists and Keynes remain, of course, directly relevant to modern economic issues in an all-pervasive and very direct manner.
There are three further issues that might distinguish this class from other introductory classes to the history of economic thought. First, a particular emphasis is put on what we call the “economic subject”, i.e., the individual, entity, group or class, which defines the major economic issues and questions of the day and acts on them. In neoclassical economics, the economic subject is, of course, largely identical with the
homo oeconomicus maximising individual utility. However, Aristotle, scholastic economic thought, mercantilism, the physiocrats, Marxism, institutionalism or even Keynes would have very different ideas about who constitutes the economic subject.
Second, two classes are dedicated to Adam Smith as the founder of economics as an autonomous discipline independent of the other social sciences and a potentially scientific endeavour of research. We thus give space to the development in the
Theory of Moral Sentiments of the anthropological foundations of the Smithian economic man, whose implications are then explored both at the micro and the macro level in the
Wealth of Nations. This allows, in particular, a better understanding of the underlying assumptions behind the working of the invisible hand.
Third, the class puts strong emphasis on the original writings (either in English or in English translation) of the key representatives of each current in the history of economic thought. While there are many competent historians of economic thought, nobody surpasses the writers who became “classics” in their ability to succinctly formulate ways forward out of the dilemmas posed by fundamental economic questions. Students will thus receive for each class by Email key chapters of the great economic texts as reading assignments. The decisive paragraphs will be read in class.
Course structure
Object and method of economic science
Ethics, religion and economy in antiquity and the middle ages
Moral, politics and Economics in the renaissance and mercantilism
The political economy of the enlightened absolutism: the physiocrats
Sympathy and wealth: Adam Smith and the
homo oeconomicus
Division of labour, value, and trade: Adam Smith Economist
The classics: rent, distribution and growth in Say, Ricardo and Malthus
Happiness or utility? The critique of liberal economy from Plato to Marx
Individual optimization and general equilibrium: Walras and Jevons, Edgeworth and Pareto
Increasing returns and competition in Alfred Marshall;
Heterodox economic thinkers (Veblen, Schumpeter, Hayek)
Keynes and the making of macroeconomics
Final exam
Compétence à acquérir :
Objective
The class aims to familiarise students with the main currents in the history of economic thought embodied by their most important theorists from Aristotle to Keynes. Students having taken the class should retain, in particular, the key features of the main economic bodies of thought and their actual or potential relevance to major historical or current economic questions.
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge of the great currents in the history of economic thought and their principal representatives and major texts; at least cursory understanding of several basic building blocks of economic theory; some intuition for the assumptions and methodological choices that establish economics as an autonomous endeavour of research in the social sciences
Mode de contrôle des connaissances :
Assignments and grading
Final Exam (control of acquired notions, some multiple choice) 50 %
Written Assignment 50% (the assigned papers can be prepared individually or in groups of two or three; the list of possible topics is attached below). The grade for the paper includes class attendance. Except for students with special exemptions, more than two unmotivated absences can lead to deductions.
The numerical grade distribution will dictate the final grade. The passing grade for a course is 10/20.
Class participation: Active class participation – this is what makes classes lively and instructive. Come on time and prepared. Class participation is based on quality of comments, not quantity.
Exam policy: In the exam, students will not be allowed to bring any document (except if allowed by the lecturer). Unexcused absences from exams or failure to submit cases will result in zero grades in the calculation of numerical averages. Exams are collected at the end of examination periods.
Academic integrity
Be aware of the rules in Université Paris Dauphine about plagiarism and cheating during exams. All work turned in for this course must be your own work, or that of your own group. Working as part of a group implies that you are an active participant and fully contributed to the output produced by that group.
Bibliographie, lectures recommandées :
Bibliography
Object and method of economic science: Milton Friedman (1953), “The Methodology of Positive Economics” in
Essays in Positive Economics. Karl Popper (1935),
The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Part I “Introduction to the Logic of Science”.
Ethics, religion and economy in antiquity and the middle ages: Plato,
The Laws, Chapters 5 and 9. Aristotle,
Nicomachean Ethics, Book V. Aristotle,
Politics, Book 1, Chapters 8-12. Thomas Aquinas,
Summa teologica, Questions 77 – 78.
Moral, politics and Economics in the renaissance and mercantilism Thomas Hobbes (1660),
The Leviathan, “Of the Nutrition and Procreation of A Commonwealth”. John Locke (1690),
The Second Treatise of Civil Government, Ch. 5 “Of Property” Bernard Mandeville (1714),
The Fable of the Bees: Or Private Vices, Public Benefits, “The Grumbling Hive: Or Knaves Turned Honest”.
The political economy of the enlightened absolutism: the physiocrats: François Quesnay (1759),
Economic Table.
Sympathy and wealth: Adam Smith and the
homo oeconomicus: Adam Smith (1759),
The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Selected passages.
Division of labour, value, and trade: Adam Smith Economist. Adam Smith (1776),
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book I “Of the Causes of Improvement in the Productive Power of Labour”.
The classics: rent, distribution and growth in Say, Ricardo and Malthus David Ricardo (1817),
Of the Principles of Political Economy and Trade, Chapters 1, 2 and 7 “On Value”, “On Rent” and “On Foreign Trade”.
Happiness or utility? The critique of the liberal economy from Plato to Marx. Karl Marx (1867),
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. I, Book I, Part 1 “Commodities and Money”
Individual optimization and general equilibrium: Walras and Jevons, Edgeworth and Pareto. William Stanley Jevons (1871),
Theory of Political Economy, Ch 4 “Theory of Exchange”.
Increasing returns and competition in Alfred Marshall; Heterodox economic thinkers (Veblen, Schumpeter, Hayek): Alfred Marshall (1890),
Principles of Economics, Book V, Ch. 12, “Equilibrium of Normal Demand and Supply, Continued, with Reference to the Law of Increasing Return”. Thorstein Veblen (1899),
Theory of the Leisure Class, Chapters 2-4 “Pecuniary Emulation”, “Conspicuous Leisure”, “Conspicuous Consumption”.
Keynes and the making of macroeconomics: John Maynard Keynes (1936),
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, Chapter 3 “The Principle of Effective Demand”.
The class does not use a single textbook. Students, who wish to do so, can receive the teaching notes (in French) upon request. As a first point of entry, other than the original texts, are recommended the individual entries on authors, movements or concepts in
The New Palgrave: Dictionary of Economics (1987), Edited by Peter Newman, John Eatwell and Murray Milgate, London, Macmillan. Please also use The History of economic thought Website,
http://www.hetwebsite.net/het/; McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought,
https://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/; Online Library of Liberty: A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets, http://oll.libertyfund.org/.
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