History of Economics Society Bulletin最新文献

{"title":"Echoes of Physiocracy","authors":"Yngve Ramstad","doi":"10.1017/S1042771600000715","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1042771600000715","url":null,"abstract":"While doing some library work, I came across a surprising passage that may be of interest to many HES members. This passage is from the middle of a speech to the California State Agricultural Society in 1858 by the Honorable Samuel B. Bell of Alameda, California. Mr. Bell was the outgoing president of the Society. In the extracted passage, voiced more than eighty years after publication of The Wealth of Nations, the physiocratic perspective on value appears in an uncontaminated form. This provides yet one more example of the tendency for economic ideas to live on in practice long after they have been refuted or discarded by economic theorists. \"Without agriculture there is no wealth. Gold is not wealth; it is its convenient representative. Commerce produces no wealth it simply exchanges it. Manufactures and arts re-combine it (my emphasis). Agriculture is the prolific mother of wealth. The rest simply handle it when it is produced and delivered into their hand.\"","PeriodicalId":123974,"journal":{"name":"History of Economics Society Bulletin","volume":"363 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1986-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122841821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ricardo on the Public Debt: Principle Versus Practice","authors":"G. Anderson, R. Tollison","doi":"10.1017/S1042771600001198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1042771600001198","url":null,"abstract":"The technical problems surrounding the so-called \"Ricardian Equivalence Theorem\" are interesting and important, and have been the subject of a debate in the literature (Barro 1974; Buchanan 1976; O'Driscoll 1977). However, Ricardo's actual position on the public debt is a related problem of some interest, albeit one which has been relatively neglected. Ricardo's behavior with respect to the public debt is relevant for at least two major reasons. From 1819 to his death in 1823, Ricardo was a member of the House of Commons, where he was called upon to vote on matters concerning government finance and where he devoted considerable time and energy to speaking on the issue of public debt. His behavior is also relevant in another context. Prior to his term of office in Parliament, Ricardo was one of the largest loan contractors in Britain and hence one of the leading creditors of the British government.","PeriodicalId":123974,"journal":{"name":"History of Economics Society Bulletin","volume":"74 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1986-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124750400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Note On Researching Keynes's Work In Probability","authors":"B. Bateman","doi":"10.1017/S1042771600000703","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1042771600000703","url":null,"abstract":"Perhaps the most actively discussed aspect of Keynes's thought during the last decade has been his concern with uncertainty and probability theory. As the concerns of current macroeconomic theorists have turned increasingly to the effects of expectations and uncertainty, interest has grown in the fact that Keynes was the author of A Treatise on Probability (1921) and that uncertainty plays a prominent role in Chapter 12 of The General Theory, as well as in three 1937 papers in which he summarized The General Theory's main points. Not surprisingly, however, there has been very little agreement in this recent discussion about exactly what the significance of Keynes's early work in probability was to his later work as an economist or about what the roles of expectations and uncertainty are in The General Theory. Several commentators have argued that there is no real relationship between Keynes's earlier work and The General Theory or that uncertainty plays no significant role in his economic theorizing chief among them Coddington (1982, 1983) and Patinkin (1976. 1983). Others have argued that there is a connection between Probability and Keynes's later work, but the nature and significance of the relationship has been interpreted in many different ways. G. L. S. Shackle (1961, 1974) and others have interpreted the connection to demonstrate that Keynes was a post-Keynesian; E. Roy Weintraub (1975, 1979) has used the connection to argue that Keynes's work serves as an example of the appropriateness of general equilibrium (i.e., neo-classical, ArrowDebreu) modelling under uncertainty to macroeconomics; Allan Meltzer (1981) has used the connection to argue that Keynes was a rational expectationist. In response to this great diversity of opinion I began to research Probability and its possible connection to Keynes's other work about three years ago. The purpose of this note, though, is not to adjudicate between the previous commentators, but to report on two findings of my research which have not been considered in their work. Both findings indicate the need for further examination of Keynes's work in probability theory. I. Careful exegesis of Keynes's writings in the 1930's indicates that his fundamental conception of what probability is changed after the publication of Probability; whereas he had advocated a single theory of probability in his book, he advocated at least two different theories by 1938. The theory originally presented in Probability denied that the probability of an occurrence referred to the proportion of times that it occurred, or its relative frequency, and contended instead that it referred to the degree of belief that was held in the occurrence's actually happening. Thus, the probability of rain on a given day was not the proportion of times that rain had occurred on meteorologically similar days, but rather the degree of belief that one held that it would rain given one's information (O = certainty that it would not rain; 1 = cert","PeriodicalId":123974,"journal":{"name":"History of Economics Society Bulletin","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1986-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121377105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adam Smith on Bankruptcy Law: “New” Law and Economics in the Glasgow Lectures?","authors":"F. Cabrillo","doi":"10.1017/S1042771600001162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1042771600001162","url":null,"abstract":"Since the publication of Gary Becker's pathbreaking paper on economics of crime and punishment in 1968', criminal law has become one of the main fields of research in law and economics. From a law and economics standpoint, the function of criminal law is to impose additional costs on unlawful conduct to limit criminal behaviour to the efficient level. Let us consider Becker's well known supply of offenses function: Oj= Oj(Pj, fj, uj) where Oj is the number of offenses that a criminal would commit during a particular period, pj his probability of conviction per offense, fj his punishment per offense and UJ a variable representing other influences. The greater pj and fj, the lower the number of offenses Oj. The main problem discussed in this literature is how many resources and how much punishment should be used to enforce different kinds of legislation to minimize the losses in social welfare caused by criminal offenses. If criminals were risk neutral, the most efficient system would require a higher sanction combined with a very low probability of conviction of the criminals, making the cost to the legal system also very low. Becker offers in his paper a posssible rational explanation of the tendency during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to punish those convicted of criminal offenses rather severely since the probability of capture and conviction was at rather low values. He argues that an increase of the probability of conviction would absorb more public and private resources. The rationality for these high sanctions was also discussed by Adam Smith two hundred years ago in his Glasgow lectures. This paper shows that Smith's arguments are not very different from those used by the modern law and economics school.","PeriodicalId":123974,"journal":{"name":"History of Economics Society Bulletin","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1986-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125840194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Piero Sraffa Took Up the Editorship of David Ricardo's Works and Correspondence","authors":"P. Porta","doi":"10.1017/S1042771600001149","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1042771600001149","url":null,"abstract":"In his note \"Keynes on Marx's Das Kapital\" (HOPE, 1983, pp. 617-20), William O. Thweatt makes an incidental remark (footnote 3, page 619) to the effect that Piero Sraffa \"took over the editorship of Ricardo's Wbrks from T. E. Gregory in 1928.\" Thweatt's source (which he has kindly brought to my attention in a private letter) is a paper by Alessandro Roncaglia. Roncaglia's story runs as follows: \"In this cultural atmosphere of 1928, the Royal Economic Society entrusted the task of preparing an edition of Ricardo's works to an economic historian mainly interested in monetary problems: Professor Gregory of the University of London. However, it did not attach very much weight to the project; and since Gregory was himself not fully committed to the undertaking, he willingly agreed to pass it over to Sraffa. (The good offices of Keynes were of crucial importance, as they had been in inviting Sraffa to Cambridge in the first place.) The Italian economist set to work with great enthusiasm and exasperating tenacity . . .\" (see \"The Rediscovery' of Ricardo,\" in New Left Review, 112, Nov.-Dec. 1978, p. 81).","PeriodicalId":123974,"journal":{"name":"History of Economics Society Bulletin","volume":"126 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1986-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128069190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Did Marshall know where he was born?","authors":"R. Coase","doi":"10.1017/S1042771600000685","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1042771600000685","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":123974,"journal":{"name":"History of Economics Society Bulletin","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1986-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116742776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Table of Contents of Economics Journals as Forecasts of Scientific Relevance","authors":"R. Tollison, D. M. Carlson","doi":"10.1017/S1042771600001174","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1042771600001174","url":null,"abstract":"How good are the editors of economics journals at predicting the scientific success and influence of the articles that they publish? Since the tables of contents of most major economics journals are not alphabetized, but are presumably ranked according to interest and importance by the editor(s), it is possible to gather some evidence on this question. Moreover, this is not a trivial issue. Since the journal system and its organization are at the heart of our profession, evaluating the scientific forecasting ability of editors is no small matter.","PeriodicalId":123974,"journal":{"name":"History of Economics Society Bulletin","volume":"47 2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1986-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114107331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Note on Leibenstein's Veblen Effect","authors":"Ken McCormick","doi":"10.1017/S1042771600001150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1042771600001150","url":null,"abstract":"In 1950, Harvey Leibenstein published his well-known article, \"Bandwagon, Snob, and Veblen Effects in the Theory of Consumer Demand,\" in The Quarterly Journal of Economics. In this influential article, Leibenstein defined the \"Veblen Effect\" and in so doing defined Veblen's contribution to mainstream demand theory. It is curious, however, that an article purporting to define a Veblen effect is completely lacking in any footnotes or specific references to the writings of Thorstein Veblen. Indeed, a careful reading of Leibenstein's article suggests that he did not fully understand the concept of conspicuous consumption. For Leibenstein, the idea of conspicuous consumption is captured by his Veblen effect: \"By the Veblen effect we refer to the phenomenon of conspicious consumption; to the extent to which the demand for a consumer's good is increased because it bears a higher rather than a lower price.\" [Leibenstein, p. 189] Thus, conspicuous consumption has only a price dimension, and can lead to a demand curve having a positive slope.","PeriodicalId":123974,"journal":{"name":"History of Economics Society Bulletin","volume":"68 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1986-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114628840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Rise and (Recent) Decline of Mathematical Economics","authors":"G. Anderson, B. Goff, R. Tollison","doi":"10.1017/S1042771600001186","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1042771600001186","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents a measurement of the degree to which economics has become more mathematical and quantitative over the period, 1948-1984. Several points should be made about our procedure. We chose 1948 as the starting date for measuring the spread of mathematics in economics on the grounds that Samuelson's Foundations was published in the previous year.' Purportedly, this book more so than others, paved the way for the expansion of mathematical economics. We proxy the extent of mathematics in economics with a count of numbered equations (per page, per year) in the American Economic Review (AER) over this period. This is a convenient measure for an obvious reason it is something, the main thing, that can be counted with respect to the mathematical content of economics articles. It is not a particularly good measure for a number of reasons. An equation count per se jumbles mathematical economics and econometrics, as we counted both types of equations., We might better say therefore that we are measuring the extent of quantitative rather than mathematical economics. We are also mixing apples and oranges. As a general rule, better math is leaner math. Papers with fewer equations may therefore be \"more\" mathematical than papers with lots. This means that our measure is biased to an extent that we cannot determine. Short of reading every mathematical paper and making a subjective judgement in this regard, we simply have to live with this problem. Moreover, we measure equations by volume year, and we include the May Proceedings issue in our count. Our measure thus includes refereed and unrefereed contributions. Finally, we have only counted the growth of mathematics in the AER. Whether the pattern of the AER reflects the profession at large is an open question.","PeriodicalId":123974,"journal":{"name":"History of Economics Society Bulletin","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1986-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130462336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Joint-Sessions Between HES and EEA","authors":"J. Ricciardi","doi":"10.1017/S1042771600001216","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1042771600001216","url":null,"abstract":"Resolved that HES will set-up a maximum of 2 thought sessions at the March 1986 and March 1987 meetings of the Eastern Economic Associations. HES will be listed on the program as a sponsoring organization although no financial responsibility whatsoever will follow. The management of the joint offerings will be the responsibility of the SecretaryTreasurer who will report to the Executive Committee at each May meeting on the experience and at the end of two years make a recommendation to the Executive Committee as to whether to continue this relationship with the EEA on a permanent basis.","PeriodicalId":123974,"journal":{"name":"History of Economics Society Bulletin","volume":"70 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1986-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116975512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}