This is Chapter 7 from Social Economics: An Alternative Theory (St. Martin's Press, 1991) Since Alfred Marshall's time, it has become ever more difficult to draw attention to the need for something besides technique to bridge the gap between the world that (presumably) exists outside our heads...

Economists have long recognized that in free markets, incentives to innovate will be diluted unless some factors grant innovators with a temporary monopoly. Patenting is the most cited factor in the economic literature. This survey concentrates on another factor that confers innovators with...

Mathematics’ use in economics is of a far greater extent than is logically admissible. Cardinal value, the possibility of interpersonal comparisons of utility, the continuity of economic functions, indifference, Pareto optimality as welfare criterion, and the possibility of general...

L'objet de cet article est de faire apparaître la singularité des liens qui unissent l'histoire de la pensée économique et la théorie économique. Une première partie met en évidence ce qui est susceptible d'expliquer la pérennité de la recherche historique. L'accent se trouve ainsi...

One of the most enduring relationships in economics is that proposed by Ernst Engel in 1857: “The poorer is a family, the greater is the proportion of the total outgo [family expenditures] which must be used for food. … The proportion of the outgo used for food, other things being equal is...

This paper deals with the analytical weakness of a number of papers which are published in the journals of history of economic thought. The aim is to highlight the need to combine the historical sensibility with both the logical consistency and the formal rigour of the analysis.

This essay will not attempt to cover all the meanings of equity, but will proceed on the assumption of some common understandings of equality and fairness. It will first summarize briefly how the concept of equity has fared in the evolution of economic theory, from the classical economists of...

This is chapter 2 of the book "Future Directions in Heterodox Economics" by John T. Harvey and Robert F. Garnett, Jr., Editors. The inner circle of neoclassical economics has limited its horizons, increasing the scope for heterodox economists to claim ever more of the most important issues. Two...

This article intends to rebut the arguments against teaching and research in the history of economic thought, thus, highlighting its relevance in the academic formation of future economists. In a moment where economics has been questioned for its inability to provide answers and for its...