University of Missouri, Kansas City

Department of Economics

 

    Economics 406                                                                                Professor John F. Henry

    History of Economic Thought                                                           Office: MH 203D

    Fall, 2008                                                                                        Phone: 235-1309

                                                   Email: henryjf@umkc.edu

                                                                                                       Office Hours: MW 12-1:00; 4:30-5:15 and by appointment

 

 

                PREREQUISITES: SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF ECONOMICS 201, 202 (or equivalent)

 

 

    I.          Required Texts:        Heilbroner, R., Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy   

                                    Henry, J., “Say’s Economy” (http://www.csus.edu/indiv/h/henryjf/)

                                    Hunt, E.K., History of Economic Thought

 

                                   

 II.        Course Outline and Readings: N.B. The lecture series and readings are not designed to simply duplicate each other. While they are to some extent complementary, each is an independent entity, and the student will find that the lectures do not cover many points in the readings, and lectures will introduce arguments not contained in the readings. You must be responsible and take both readings and lectures seriously and not view them as substitutes.

 

1.         Introduction: Hunt, Ch. 1

            A.        The nature of the history of economic theories

            B.         What is being attempted

            C.        Overview of the theories being discussed

 

 2.        The development of the Classical theory: Hunt, Chs. 2, 3, 5; Heilbroner: Chs 1, 2, 3 (Smith and Ricardo)

A.        Social forces in formation

            B.         Antecedents of Classicists

                            i.      Canonists

                           ii.      Mercantilists

                           iii.      Petty, Franklin, Locke

                          iv.       Physiocrats

            C.        Adam Smith

                            i.      General philosophy

                           ii.      Theoretical framework

                                    a.        Division of labor

                                    b.        Production and unproductive labor

                                    c.        Theory of value

                                    d.        Theory of income distribution

                                    e.        Economic growth

            D.        David Ricardo

                            i.      Social forces

                           ii.      Early writings

                           iii.      Theory of value

                          iv.      Theory of distribution

                           v.      Theory of growth

 

3.         The Anti-Classicist position in the Smith/Ricardo period: Hunt, Chs. 4, 6 (Bentham and Say); Heilbroner, Chs. 5 (Bentham), 3 (Malthus); Henry, “Say’s Economy”

            A.        Social forces

            B.         The early Subjectivists

                            i.      Bentham

                           ii.      Say

            C.        The Malthusian population theory; Value and Distribution Theory; Rent

 

4.         Early Proto-Socialist thought: Hunt Ch. 7        

 

5.         The post-Ricardian reaction: Hunt, Ch. 6 (Senior), 8; Heilbroner, 3 (Mill)

                            i.      Senior

                           ii.      Bastiat

                           iii.      Mill

 

6.         Marxist theory: Hunt, Ch. 9; Heilbroner, Ch 4.

            A.        Social forces

            B.         General introduction to Marx

            C.        Dialectical Materialism

            D.        Economic interpretation of history

            E.         Successive approximations

            F.         The Manifesto

            G.        Capital

                            i.      Definition of commodity

                           ii.      Theory of value

                           iii.      Labor power

                          iv.      Surplus value

                           v.      Organic composition of capital

                          vi.      Accumulation process

                          vii.      Reserve army of the unemployed

                         viii.      Tendency for the rate of profit to fall

                          ix.      Counter-tendencies

                           x.      Cycles

                          xi.      Breakdown controversy

 

7.         The Mature Neoclassical theory: Hunt, Chs. 10-11, 14; Heilbroner, Ch. 5 (Jevons, Walras, Marshall)

            A.        Social forces

            B.         The utility theory of value

                            i.      Predecessors

                           ii.      Development of cardinal utility

                           iii.      Ordinal developments in the 1930s

            C.        Marginal productivity theory of production and distribution

                            i.      The argument

                           ii.      MP and justice

                           iii.      Diminishing returns

                          iv.      Plastic capital

            D.        Summation of orthodoxy

 

    8. Veblen and Schumpeter: Hunt, Ch. 12; Heilbroner, Ch. 6 (Veblen, Schumpeter)

 

    9. Keynes: Hunt, Ch. 15; Heilbroner, Ch. 6 (Keynes)

            A.        Social forces

            B.         Keynes' politics

            C.        The General Theory

                            i.      "Full" employment

                           ii.      Expectations

                           iii.      Basic Keynesian problem of lack of invest­ment

                          iv.      Role of government

                           v.      Keynes' conclusion

 

III.               Exams and Paper:

                        Mid-term:        Sections 1 - 3                25%

                        Final:               Inclusive, focusing

                                                on Sections 4 - 7          50%

                        Paper:             TBD                              25%

 

Information on the paper will be distributed in due course.

 

NOTE WELL:  This is a somewhat difficult (though interesting) course.  It demands time, careful reading, attendance, and critical evaluation of what you read and hear.  Do not simply underline the material being read; rather, take notes and attempt to understand the arguments.  Keep up with the readings and lectures.  No tape recording of  lectures is permitted unless special authorization has been given.  Read supplementary material (see below).  I urge you to form small study circles for the purposes of collectively studying and analyzing the material.  In your studies, always ask the question "why?"  I want you to start thinking and stop memorizing.  Don't be afraid to talk to me, ask questions in class, or challenge any point I may make--but do so in a reasoned, critical fashion.

I am a relatively demanding instructor.  Do not expect a decent grade unless you work.  Missed examinations will be counted as failures.  Obviously, absences for medical reasons, deaths in the family, etc. are excepted.  Cheating will result in failure of the course.  I have no provision for alterations of grades (except where an error was made).  Do not come in at the end of the semester and attempt to bargain for a higher grade.

 

 IV.      Supplementary readings representing differing points of view:

 

A Science in its Youth, A. Anikin

            A History of Economic Thought, Wm. Barber (can be downloaded free of charge:

            http://www.wesleyan.edu/css/readings/Barber/toc.htm)

            Economic Theory in Retrospect, M. Blaug

The Economics of John Maynard Keynes, D. Dillard

            Political Economy and Capitalism, M. Dobb

            The Making of Neoclassical Economics, J. Henry

Theories of Surplus Value, K. Marx

            History of Modern Non-Marxian Economics, A. Matyas

-           Studies in the Labor Theory of Value, R. Meek

            The Political Element in the Development of Economic Theory, G. Myrdal

            The Meaning and Validity of Economic Theory, L. Rogin

            A History of Economic Thought (1st or 2nd editions), E. Roll

            The Origin of Economic Ideas, G. Routh

            History of Economic Analysis, J.A. Schumpeter

The Place of Science in Modern Civilization, T. Veblen

 

As well, the journals History of Political Economy and Journal of the History of Economic Thought are given over to specialized writings in the area of economic thought.  Some of these are useful. And, if you become truly interested in this stuff, on my Web site you’ll find an extensive bibliography of references. The most useful Web sites that I’m aware of in this area are:

http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/index.html

 

This provides a hypertext of authors’ works that can be downloaded.

 

And, the New School University’s history of economic thought website is very useful for general information:

      http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/