Four Central Theories of the Market Economy: conception, evolution and application

Cover......Page 1
Half Title......Page 2
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright Page......Page 5
Dedication......Page 6
Contents......Page 8
Detailed contents......Page 10
Illustrations......Page 13
Acknowledgments......Page 14
The invisible-hand proposition......Page 16
The theory of comparative advantage......Page 17
The quantity theory of money......Page 18
Further reflections on the four theories......Page 19
Bibliography......Page 20
Chapter contents......Page 22
1. Introduction......Page 23
2.1. From antiquity to the sixteenth century......Page 25
2.2. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century......Page 28
3. Self-love and the invisible hand......Page 29
3.1. Hobbes’ challenge......Page 30
3.2. Early responses to Hobbes......Page 31
3.3. A tale of two literary works......Page 32
3.4. The economic response......Page 35
4. Smith’s method of inquiry......Page 36
5. Smith’s contribution to the economic response......Page 38
6. Smith and his contemporary philosophers on the invisible hand......Page 42
7. Self-interest versus benevolence......Page 46
8. The invisible-hand passages in Smith’s writings......Page 48
9.1. The classical interpretation......Page 51
9.2. The neoclassical interpretation......Page 57
9.3. The evolutionary interpretation......Page 63
10. The invisible hand and the science of complexity......Page 65
Appendix I: the invisible hand and the theory of natural selection......Page 70
Appendix II: the invisible hand of science......Page 72
Appendix III: other interpretations of the invisible hand......Page 73
Notes......Page 75
Bibliography......Page 83
Chapter contents......Page 94
1. Introduction......Page 95
2.1. From classical antiquity to the sixteenth century......Page 96
2.2. The era of mercantilism......Page 99
2.3. The eighteenth century – laying the foundation......Page 101
2.4. Henry Martyn......Page 102
2.5. David Hume......Page 104
2.6. Adam Smith......Page 106
3. Formulation and articulation of comparative advantage......Page 109
3.1. David Ricardo’s model of comparative advantage......Page 110
3.2. James Mill......Page 116
3.3. John Stuart Mill......Page 117
4. Comparative advantage and free trade......Page 118
5. Extension and evolution of the Ricardian comparative advantage......Page 122
6. Empirical studies of the Ricardian comparative advantage......Page 126
7. A final note......Page 128
Appendix I: a model of comparative advantage based on the writings of Adam Smith......Page 129
Appendix III: Mountifort Longfield’s generalization of the Ricardian model......Page 132
Appendix IV: Haberler’s multi-goods case of comparative advantage......Page 134
Notes......Page 135
Bibliography......Page 139
1. Introduction......Page 146
2. Components of the law of markets......Page 149
3. Before Jean-Baptiste Say......Page 150
4. The evolution of the law of markets in the nineteenth century......Page 153
5. The law of markets in the twentieth century......Page 163
6. A final note......Page 170
A1. Andrew Skinner......Page 171
A2. William Baumol......Page 172
A3. Steven Kates......Page 174
Notes......Page 175
Bibliography......Page 177
1. Introduction......Page 180
2. The quantity theory of money before David Hume......Page 182
3. Richard Cantillon, Montesquieu, and David Hume......Page 184
4. Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill......Page 188
5. Alfred Marshall, Irving Fisher, and Knut Wicksell......Page 193
6. John Maynard Keynes and Milton Friedman......Page 201
Notes......Page 209
Bibliography......Page 211
Index......Page 214