Richard Cantillon and David Hume both propose the theory of monetary non-neutrality, whereby the money supply changes through the money balances of specific individuals. Such an uneven distribution of monetary change then spreads throughout the economy step by step and changes relative prices....

In the 1870s and 1880s, the scientist, logician, and pragmatist philosopher Charles S. Peirce possessed an advanced knowledge of mathematical economics, having mastered and criticized Cournot as early as 1871. In 1884 he engaged in a multi-round debate with the editors of The Nation over the...

This paper analyses one of Turgot's first economic essays, Plan d'un ouvrage sur le commerce, la circulation et l'intérêt de l'argent, la richesse des états (1753-4). Written prior to the appearance of physiocratic influence, it is Turgot's contribution to the movement of writing that bubbled...

The interest-rate controversies between Böhm-Bawerk and Fisher have attracted little attention and, in the opinion of most commentators, justifiably so. Böhm-Bawerk and Fisher argue over what appear to be two minor issues – Böhm-Bawerk's claims that his third cause of interest (productivity...

The aim of this paper is to explain the process of diversification of normative economics by presenting the work of two authors: Tibor Scitovsky [1910-2002] and Amartya Sen [1933-]. While these two authors first contributed to traditional welfare analysis from within, they were subsequently...

The Pigou effect was conceived to counter Keynes's argument that a competitive economy could remain in the state of high unemployment. Before he introduced this idea, Pigou had debated with Keynes the same question of whether an economy has the tendency to recover full employment. He lost in...

Modern growth theory derives mostly from Robert Solow's "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth" (1956). Solow's own interpretation locates the origins of his "Contribution" in his view that the growth model of Roy Harrod implied a tendency toward progressive collapse of the economy. He...

In the paper I offer some vignettes on my relationship, both professional and personal, with Mark Blaug, and by way of example reflect on his impact on the history of economics.

Paolo Sylos Labini's Oligopoly Theory and Technical Progress (1957) is considered one of the major contributions to entry-prevention models, especially after Franco Modigliani's famous formalization. Nonetheless, Modigliani neglected Sylos Labini's major aim when reviewing his work (1958),...

Modern growth theory derives mostly from Robert Solow's "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth" (1956). Solow's own interpretation locates the origins of his "Contribution" in his view that the growth model of Roy Harrod implied a tendency toward progressive collapse of the economy. He...