Economics 4260/8266
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
Fall 1995

Arthur Diamond
Department of Economics
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE
World Wide Web home page: http://unicron.unomaha.edu/faculty/diamond/web/diahompg.htm


Seminar Description:
The first seven weeks of the seminar will focus on the development of economics from Adam Smith in 1776 through John Maynard Keynes in the 1930s. The focus will be on the substantive issues that concerned economists during different periods and on the tools of analysis that they developed in order to address those issues. In particular, we will study the economic writings of those economists who have subsequently been identified as "great" by modern economists. The first part of the seminar will be mainly lecture format.
Part of one session (to be held in the library) will focus on the characteristics of good writing style in economics and on effective research techniques. Under the latter heading we will learn how to perform literature searches using a powerful, but initially confusing, research tool: the Social Science Citation Index.
During the second eight weeks the seminar will use the history sketched in the first part of the seminar as a partial basis for addressing important questions about the methodology, institutional structure, and policy impact of economics.

Prerequisites:
The main prerequisite for the seminar is the possession of intellectual curiosity. To take the seminar for a grade, the student also should have previously completed at least an introductory microeconomics course (ECON 2200).

Reading Schedule:
The first half of the seminar will make use of a good, fairly brief, text:
Harry Landreth and David C. Colander. History of Economic Thought, 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

The first seven weeks we will concentrate on achieving a basic familiarity with the history of economic thought by lecture­discussions focused on the text and on portions of the classics (like The Wealth of Nations). In the early years of the course, readings from the classics were spiral­bound into a packet that was sold by Kinkos (or by some Kinkos clone), A few years ago, however, a group of book publishers won a landmark court ruling against Kinkos that has made it much more expensive for Kinkos to produce readings packets. As a result, Kinkos in Omaha has decided not to produce readings packets in the foreseeable future. The University Bookstore is willing to produce a packet for material that is clearly old enough to be beyond the copyright period. But the Bookstore will not take the initiative to obtain copyright permission for more recent readings. For those we will we will have to make use of the Reserve Desk of the library. (The one exception is the Veblen volume which is inexpensive enough that it has been added to the list of required books for the course that is available in the bookstore.) In the ninth week, we will have a midterm. In the last eight weeks we will concentrate on some of the topics on the annotated bibliography. Readings for the topics sessions will be available from the reserve desk at the library. The following is a rough list of readings assignments for the first seven weeks. The page numbers in brackets are for the editions that are (or were) included in the spiral bound packet:


Aug. 24: General introduction.

Aug. 31: Landreth/Colander text, Chs. 1­4; Smith, Adam, The Wealth of Nations, Book 1, Ch. 1, Of the Division of Labor, Ch. 2, Of the Principle Which Gives Occasion to the Division of Labor, Ch. 3, That the Division of Labor is Limited by the Extent of the Market; Book 5, Ch. 1, Part 3, Article 2, Of the Expense of the Institutions for the Education of Youth (first 6 or so pages) [pp. 13­36, 758­764].

Sept. 7: Landreth/Colander text, Ch. 5; Ricardo, David, Principles of Political Economy, Preface, Ch 1, On Value (skip the appendix), Ch. 2, On Rent, Ch. 5, On Wages [pp. 5­8, 11­51, 67­84, 93­109]. MEET IN LIBRARY.

Sept. 14: Landreth/Colander text, Ch. 6; Mill, John Stuart, Principles of Political Economy, Preface; Book 1, Ch. 1, Of the Requisites of Production, Ch. 2, Of Labour as an Agent of Production; Book 2, Ch. 11, Of Wages; Book 5, Ch. 1, Of the Functions of Government in General [pp. xxvii­xxxi, 22­43, 343­360, 795­801].

Sept. 21: Landreth/Colander text, Ch. 7; Marx, Karl, Capital, Vol. 1, Part 1, Ch. 19 Sections I & 2, Commodities; Part 3, Ch. 10, The Working Day [pp. 35­46, 231­302] (Blaug, p. 266, notes that Marx himself suggested to a friend that the best way to begin reading Capital was with chapters 10, 13­15, and 25­33.) Marx, Karl, The American Journalism of Marx and Engels. "The British Rule in India," and "The Future Results of the British Rule in India." [pp. 93­109]; Senior, Nassau, Industrial Efficiency and Social Economy, in: Lakachman, "Nassau Senior," The Varieties of Economics, [pp. 277­288]. Students should turn in a list of their top 3 choices of topics for papers.

Sept. 28: Landreth/Colander text, Chs. 8 & 11; Marshall, Alfred, Principles of Economics, Preface to 1st edition; Preface to 8th edition; Book 5, Chs. 1­3; [pp. v­xvii, 323­350]. Donald N, McCloskey, "Economical Writing," Economic Inquiry 23 (April 1985): 187­222, Topics will be assigned (based on student preferences and on goal of no two students having same topic).

Oct. 5: Landreth/Colander text, Ch. 16; Keynes, John Maynard, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Capital, Preface, Ch. 1, The General Theory; Ch. 2, The Postulates of the Classical Economics; Ch. 3, The Principle of Effective Demand; Ch, 5, Expectation as Determining Output and Employment; Ch. 8, The Propensity to Consume: I. The Objective Factors; Ch. 9, The Propensity to Consume: II. The Subjective Factors; Ch. 23, Notes on Mercantilism, the Usury Laws, Stamped Money and Theories of Under­consumption; Ch. 24, Concluding Notes on the Social Philosophy Towards Which the General Theory Might Lead [pp. xxi­xxiii, 3­34, 46­51, 89­112, 333­384].

Oct. 12: Landreth/Colander text, Ch. 12; Veblen, Thorstein, Theory of the Leisure Class, Preface­ Ch. 1, Introductory; Ch. 2, Pecuniary Emulation; Ch. 3, Conspicuous Leisure; Ch. 4, Conspicuous Consumption [pp. xiii­xiv, 1­101]. Students should turn in an initial bibliography for paper (of four or more references).

Oct. 19: Midterm

Oct. 26: Arthur Diamond, "Does Economics Progress?"
Reading assignment: 3 papers by Stigler that are attached to this schedule

Nov. 2: Mark Wade, "Economics and the Gods: the Impact of Theology on Early Economic Thought"

Bikalpa Upadhyay, "The Role of Mathematics in Economics"

Nov. 9: Gang Chen, "Have Economists Influenced Economic Policy?"

[deleted at author's request]

Nov. 16: Jeremy Oswald, "Do the Sources of Financial Support Influence the Economics Produced?"

Mike Svehla, "What Was the Impact of Veblen's Ideas on Economics and What Were the Arguments Between his School of Thought and the Neoclassicists?"

Nov. 23: Thanksgiving Vacation.

Nov. 30: Shou Mei Mueller, "The Editions of Samuelson's Economics Text: What Can We Learn about Samuelson, the Changing Course of Economics and the Economics/Sociology of Textbook Writing?"

Anita Lakhwani, "Marx on the Civil War"

Dec. 7: Papers due. Concluding reflections on lessons learned from the history of economic thought.

Dec. 14: Final Exam.



426 Course Requirements:
Course grades will depend on the grades received on a midterm (30%), a final exam (40%), and a short paper (30%) on a topic drawn from those covered on the reading list. The midterm will consist of a combination of multiple choice questions and essay questions. Some of the multiple choice questions will require identifying the economist who wrote a given passage. Some of the essay questions will deal with the main contributions of the important economists who are studied in the first half of the seminar. The short paper should be 5­6 pages of double­spaced, typewritten text (not including any footnotes and references). (With special permission, the student may select a relevant topic that is not included on the reading list). Late papers will have 5% of the possible paper points deducted initially and an additional 1% deducted for each day the paper is late beyond the first day.
Undergraduates also have the option of fulfilling the requirements for the graduate version of the course (listed below), In that case their grade will be based on the same activities listed for the graduate class, but the grading scale will be less severe than for graduate students and the time taken for the class presentation need not be as long (i.e., the graduate student cutoff points for various letter grades will be higher than the cutoff points for undergraduate students).


826 Course Requirements:
Course grades will depend on the grades received on a midterm (30%), a class presentation (10%), an extended research paper (40%) on a thesis related to one of the topics covered on the reading list, and a final exam (20%). The midterm will consist of a combination of multiple choice questions and essay questions. Some of the multiple choice questions will require identifying the economist who wrote a given passage. Some of the essay questions will deal with the main contributions of the important economists who are studied in the first half of the seminar.
In the second half of the course, each graduate student will be expected to give a summary presentation, and then lead discussion on one of the topics listed in the annotated reading list. The research paper should argue for a particular thesis related to one of the topic areas and should reflect critical thought instead of a mere summary of the positions of the published authorities. (With special permission, the student may select a relevant topic that is not included on the reading list). The paper should be 20­25 pages of double­spaced, typewritten text (not including any footnotes and references). Late papers will have 5% of the possible paper points deducted initially and an additional 1% deducted for each day the paper is late beyond the first day. The presentation should be on the same topic as the research paper, but the presentation should be more self­consciously designed so that all reasonable positions on the topic are given a credible defense.

Cheating:
Exams will be attentively monitored. The result of academic dishonesty will be a grade of F for the seminar and a recommendation for expulsion from the university.

Presentations:
The presenter will assign readings to fellow students two weeks prior to the seminar presentation. The presenter should either (1) provide two photocopies to me to place on reserve or (2) provide sufficient photocopies for each student to have her own copy. Photocopies should have full bibliographic information on the top of the first page of each separate source. Full bibliographic information means: author(s), article or book title, volume number (where applicable), journal title (where applicable), publication date and pages.

GUIDELINES FOR 426 BRIEF PAPERS
The paper should be a critical review either of one of the articles or books listed in the annotated reading list. The content of the critical reviews will be left largely to the student's own judgement. As you might suppose, however, reviews that merely rephrase the introduction and conclusion of the original paper will be valued less highly than reviews that evidence well­spent mental effort. The short paper should be 5­6 pages of double­spaced, typewritten text (not including any footnotes and references). At the end of the paper there should be a full bibliographic citation to the article or book that is being critically reviewed.

GUIDELINES FOR 826 TERM PAPERS
In the second half of the course, each graduate student will be expected to give a summary presentation, and then lead discussion on one of the topics listed in the annotated reading list. The research paper should argue for a particular thesis related to one of the topic areas and should reflect critical thought instead of a mere summary of the positions of the published authorities. (With permission, the student may select a relevant topic that is not included on the reading list). The paper should be 20­25 pages of double­spaced, typewritten text (not including any footnotes and references).
The research paper should argue for a particular thesis related to one of the topic areas and should reflect critical thought instead of a mere summary of the positions of the published authorities.
The paper should be written at a consistent level of difficulty. In most cases, the paper should be written to be understandable by a conscientious undergraduate economics major. That means you should assume that you are writing for someone who is intelligent, interested, short on time, and does not have a deep knowledge of science or the higher level technical details of economics.
The "core" sections of the paper should sum to approximately 20­25 pages. A few pages extra will not be penalized if the extra pages are truly needed (i.e., not "padding").
The paper should have a title page including the title, your name, the name of the course, the course number and the date on which the paper is turned in. Following the title page, on a separate page should be a 100 word abstract. Neither the title page nor the abstract page counts toward the page limit of the paper. Pages in the body of the text (beginning with the Introduction) should be consecutively numbered. The text of the paper should be double­spaced and should have inch and a half margins on the top, bottom, right and left.
Endnotes should be used only if really necessary. When a source is used in the text, internal references should be given in the text that consist of a parenthetical mention of the author's last name, the date of the publication and a specific page number (if appropriate). For each brief parenthetical reference, a complete bibliographic reference should be provided in the Bibliography (that is not counted in the page limit). The ultimate arbiter for reference format is the latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.
Before you turn in your final draft, be sure to submit it to a spell­checking program (available with all major word­processing programs).
In your introduction, you should describe your problem and your thesis. This might be a good place to mention the contents of any broadly relevant articles that you turned up in your UNCOVER, EconLit and other literature searches. If there is no relevant material on UNCOVER or EconLit for your topic, mention the absence of relevant material (and include in the appendix, a list of the keywords that you used to search under and the articles that resulted). (That is, it would be very unusual to have no relevant articles appear, so if you claim that there are none, the burden of proof is on you.) Briefly (in a few sentences) summarize what you will be doing in the rest of the paper.

THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS APPLY BOTH TO THE 426 BRIEF PAPER AND THE 826 LONG PAPER:

The paper should be double­spaced, typewritten (or "word­processed") text with a font size of either 10 or 12 points.
Late papers will be accepted, but will have 5% of the possible paper points deducted initially and an additional 1% deducted for each day the paper is late beyond the first day. Late papers may result in a grade of I (incomplete) for the course on the initial grade report.
The paper should be written at a consistent level of difficulty. In most cases, the paper should be written to be understandable by a conscientious undergraduate economics major. That means you should assume that you are writing for someone who is intelligent, interested, short on time, and does not have a deep knowledge of science or the higher level technical details of economics.
The paper should have a title page including the title, your name, the name of the course, the course number and the date on which the paper is turned in. Neither the title page nor the abstract page counts toward the page limit of the paper. Pages in the body of the text should be consecutively numbered. The text of the paper should be double­spaced and should have inch and a half margins on the top, bottom, right and left. Please do not put your paper in a special binder that would limit the space for my comments. Instead, staple or clip it together.
Before you turn in your final draft, be sure to submit it to a spell­checking program (available with all major word­processing programs).
As you work on the text of your paper, be sure to periodically backup your latest draft onto a floppy disk. Also be sure to keep a clean copy of your paper for your files--the copy you turn in to me will be marked­up in red ink.


SOME SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS:

a. The paper should have inch and a half margins on the left hand side, top and bottom. (Ample margins make it easier for me to jot down comments.)

b. The style for references is flexible, but should be consistent and should provide enough information for the reader to track down a reference, if necessary. (Some people are very picky when it comes to reference format, so you may make your life easier if you get in the habit of doing it the way these people like. Perhaps the most widely used style format in economics is that found in the latest edition of: The Chicago Manual of Style, The University of Chicago Press.)

c. Attempt to write as McCloskey suggests in "Economical Writing."

d. Do not place your paper in a plastic cover.

e. Make a carbon or xerox copy of your paper before turning it in.

f. The paper is due at the beginning of the last regular class session (i.e., 6 pm on Weds., Dec. 7th).


Sample Presentation/Paper Topics from Previous Years:

Graduate students, and undergraduates who choose to give a presentation, have a choice of topics. Some of the topics from past years have been:
"The Application of Economic Theories in the Making of Public Economics: The Case of the Fair Labor Standards Act"

"History of Economists' Views on Currency Without Debt Backing"

"The Role of Mathematics in Economics."

"Did Henry George have an Influence on William Jennings Bryan and the Politics of the 1890s?"

"Does the Study of Economics Make People More Conservative?"

"What is the Value to Having an Article Placed First in a Journal?"

"Have Economists Influenced Economic Policy? The Case of Keynes and The Economic Consequences of Peace"

"Anticipations of Keynes's General Theory, with Special Attention to the Scandinavian School of Economic Thought"

"Have Economists Influenced Economic Policy? The Case of Keynes and the New Deal/Great Depression Era"

"Does Economics Have a Useful Past?"

"Can Chaos Theory be Fruitfully Applied to Economics?"

"How Did Early Economic Thought Influence the Founding Fathers of the U.S.?: the Case of Thomas Jefferson"

"Is an Economist's Biography Important in Understanding an Economist's Work"

"Was Smith a Closet Utopian?"

"Economics from a Psychological Point of View" or "Economics, Psychology: What's the Difference?"

"How has Outside Funding Affected the Course of Economic Research?"

"Marx on the Civil War"

"The Editions of Samuelson's Economics Text: What Can We Learn About Samuelson, the Changing Course of Economics and the Economics/Sociology of Textbook Writing?"

"Does Merit Determine Who is Elected President of the American Economic Association?"

"Have Economists Influenced Government Economic Policies in the Past? The Case of the English Corn Laws"

"Have Scientific Revolutions Occurred in Economics?"

"Did The Wealth of Nations and Early Economic Analysis Have Any Impact on the Founding Fathers of the United States?"

"Do Events Influence the Development of Economic Theories or Does it Evolve According its Own Dynamic? The Case of Keynes and the Great Depression"

"Do the Sources of Financial Support Influence the Economics Produced?"


Important Dates:
Oct. 19: Midterm exam (tentative date).
Nov. 3: Last day until 4:00 p.m. to drop seminar with a grade of "W".
Nov. 22­24: Thanksgiving vacation; no classes.
Dec. 14: Final exam 6:00­8:40 P.M.



The following sample bibliography is intended to illustrate the preferred reference format for several kinds of publications.


SAMPLE FORM FOR BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

Ackermann, Robert John. Data, Instruments and Theory. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1985.

Acs, Zoltan J., David B. Audretsch and Maryann P. Feldman. "Real Effects of Academic Research: Comment." The American Economic Review 82, no.1 (March 1992): 363-367.

Adams, James D. "Fundamental Stocks of Knowledge and Productivity Growth." Journal of Political Economy 98, no. 4 (August 1990): 673-702.

Alchian, Armen A. "Private Property and the Relative Cost of Tenure." In Economic Forces at Work. Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1977 (essay originally published in 1958).

American Chemical Society. Directory of Graduate Research 1989. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society, 1989.

Becker, William E., Jr. "Maintaining Faculty Vitality through Collective Bargaining." In Faculty Vitality and Institutional Productivity: Critical Perspectives for Higher Education, ed. Shirley M. Clark, and Darrell R. Lewis, 198- 223. New York: Columbia University, Teachers College Press, 1985.

Davis, Elizabeth. "Compensation Gains of Faculty Unions and the Unemployed Effect of Extending Unemployment Insurance Coverage." (PhD Dissertation, University of Michigan, 1988).

Diamond, Arthur M., Jr. "Age and the Acceptance of Cliometrics." The Journal of Economic History 40, no. 4 (December 1980): 838-841.

____. "The Career Consequences of Accepting a Scientific Mistake." working paper, 1992.

Friedman, Milton. "An Open Letter for Grants." Newsweek (May 18, 1981): 99.

Garfield, Eugene, (chairman). Science Citation Index. Philadelphia: Institute for Scientific Information, Inc., 1961-present.

Lucas, Robert E., Jr. "Incentives for Ideas." New York Times (April 13, 1981): 23.