Topics in the History of Economics
Program and Readings
2017 Summer Institute
Topics in the History of Economics

-The structure is the same both weeks. There are 2 sessions a day, Monday through Thursday, and a final morning session on Friday. The sessions are 2 hours long. The morning sessions are from 9:30-11:30 am, and the afternoon sessions are from 2:00-4:00 pm. There will be a short break (5-10 minutes) half way through each session.

-The two weeks will be set up differently. During the first week, Bruce will be the sole lecturer. He will present a mini-history of economics survey course, providing content and also discussing how to set up and teach such a course.  Because there is a lot of material, we may extend each session as needed to make sure we are able to cover it all.  It is essential for students to get a good start on reading the material before coming to Duke.  

-During the second week, Kevin and Steve will be the main lecturers, and they will split the first (Monday morning) session.

-Steve will then present a series of lectures in the mornings on the development of market failure analysis from Smith through Coase, and end with a session Thursday afternoon on the Chicago School.

-For his one hour on Monday morning, and during the afternoons on Monday through Wednesday, Kevin will “flip the classroom.” You will be assigned videos to watch and a set of readings for each session. The sessions will then be devoted to discussing issues raised in the videos and readings.  The Monday morning session has one video assigned to it, and each of the remaining sessions has 2 videos assigned, so that each video will have one hour of class time for discussion. Students should prepare a couple of questions for each session that can be used to generate discussion.  

-The final session of week 2 on Friday will be run by Bruce and, in the first hour, will cover Hayek. You will have readings and a video to watch, and class time will be devoted to discussion. The second hour will be a feedback session, where you can let Bruce know your reactions to the SI. 

Sunday June 4

3 pm-6 pm   Participants check into hotel

6:30 pm, Welcome Dinner, at The Center for the History of Political Economy, Social Sciences Building

WEEK ONE (June 5-9)

Monday June 5:  

Session 1 – Introductions of Program and Participants; Tips on Setting Up a History of Thought Course – Caldwell

Session 2 – Scholasticism, Mercantilism and Physiocracy – Caldwell  

• Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, excerpts. In Steven Medema and Warren Samuels, eds. The History of Economic Thought: A Reader (2nd ed., New York: Routledge, 2013), pp. 18-27. (Henceforth readings found in this book will be noted by M&S.)
• Jacob Viner, “Mercantilist Thought” (1968), in Jacob Viner, Essays on the Intellectual History of Economics, Douglas Irwin, ed.  (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991), pp. 262-76.
• Thomas Mun, England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade (1664), chapters 2-4, in M&S, pp. 35-44.
• François Quesnay, Tableau Economique, picture of the Tableau, in M&S, pp. 106-08.

Supplementary Reading: Robert Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers (6th. Ed., New York: Simon and Schuster, 1986), chapters 1 & 2. A nice intro to the Economic Revolution that spawned more systematic  thinking about economics.
Lars Magnusson, Mercantilism: The Shaping of Economic Language. London: Routledge, 1994, especially chapters 1 & 2. The historiography of mercantilism.

Tuesday June 6:

Session 3 – The Scottish Enlightenment and Adam Smith – Caldwell

• Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1766), excerpts.
• Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [1776] R. H. Campbell, A. S. Skinner, and W. B. Todd, eds. (Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1981), Smith’s Introduction and Plan of the Work; Book I, chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 (sections 1-4, 11-18), 5 (sections 1-17), 6 (sections 1-10), 7, 10c (section 27 – p. 145), 11p (sections 7-10, pp. 265-67). Book II, chapter 3 (sections 1 -3, 12 -18, 30-32); Book IV, chapter 1 (sections 1 – 10), 2 (sections 1-15, 23-24, 31, 37-38, 40, 43).
• Jacob Viner, “Adam Smith and Laissez-Faire” (1927), in Jacob Viner, Essays, op. cit., pp. 85-113.

Session 4 – More on Smith; a Quick Look at Malthus and Ricardo – Caldwell

• Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), excerpts, in M&S, pp. 210-225.
• Henry William Spiegel, The Growth of Economic Thought (3rd ed., Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1991), Chapter 14, pp. 308-12, 319-331.

Supplementary Reading: George Stigler, “Ricardo and the 93 Per Cent Labor Theory of Value,” in Essays in the History of Economics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965), pp. 326-42.

Wednesday June 7:

Sessions 5 and 6  – Marx – Caldwell

From Robert Tucker, The Marx-Engels Reader. NY: Norton, 1978.

• Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy [1859] (pp. 3-6)
• “The Communist Manifesto” (pp. 473-91; 499-500. Omit section III.)
• “Socialism: Utopian and Scientific” (pp. 681-717)
• A taste of Das Kapital: I, chapter 7, sec. 2 (pp. 351-61); I, chapter 25 (pp. 419-31)

Thursday June 8:
Session 7 – Marginalism, and the Methodenstreit – Caldwell

• Mark Blaug “Was There a ‘Marginal Revolution’?” History of Political Economy, vol. 4, Fall 1972, pp. 269-80.
• Bruce Caldwell, Hayek’s Challenge: An Intellectual Biography of F. A. Hayek (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), pp. 17-35.
• Philip Mirowski, “Physics and the ‘Marginalist Revolution’,” Cambridge Journal of Economics, 1984, vol. 8, pp. 361-79.

Supplementary Reading: E. Roy Weintraub, “Burn the Mathematics (Tripos),” How Economics Became a Mathematical Science (Durham: Duke University Press, 2002), chapter 1.
Caldwell, Hayek’s Challenge, chapters 2-5.

Session 8 – Marshall, American Institutionalism, and Schumpeter – Caldwell 

• Alfred Marshall, The Principles of Economics, 8^th ed. (1920): Book I, chapters 1, 4; Book V, chapters 1-3.
• Thorstein Veblen, Theory of the Leisure Class [1899], chapter 2, “Pecuniary Emulation," in M&S, pp. 645-50.  
• Malcolm Rutherford, The Institutionalist Movement in American Economics, 1918-1947: Science and Social Control, chapter 1.
• Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (1942), Chapter 7.

Supplementary Reading, Veblen, Theory of the Leisure Class, chapters 3-4, in M&S, pp. 650-75.

7:05, Durham Bulls Baseball Game, Durham Bulls Stadium  

Friday June 9:

Session 9 – Keynes – Caldwell

• John Maynard Keynes, “The End of Laissez-Faire”[1926],  in M&S, pp. 622-25.  
• Keynes, J. M. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1936), Chapter 2, pp. 18-22; Chapter 3, pp. 32-34; Chapter 12; Chapter 22, pp. 313-320, Chapter 24.
• Bradley Bateman, “Keynes and Keynesianism,” in The Cambridge Companion to Keynes, edited by Roger E. Backhouse and Bradley W. Bateman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 2006, pp. 271-90.

11:30am – 2pm, Participants who are leaving after Week 1, check out of hotel and depart

Sunday, June 11:

2-6 pm,   Week 2 participants arrive and register at hotel

WEEK TWO (June 12 to 16)

Monday June 12:

Session 10 – Adam Smith and the Classical Roots of Market Failure Analysis – Steve Medema (1^st hour)

• Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1976. (pp. 687-688, 724-731, 814-816).

The Background to Modern Macroeconomics (before the 1930s) – Kevin Hoover (2^nd hour; discuss video)

• Antoine Murphy, The Genesis of Macroeconomics, ch. 5 (pp. 99-114).
• Arie Arnon, Monetary Theory and Policy From Hume and Smith to Wicksell, ch. 17 (pp. 352-356).
• Mary Morgan, The History of Econometric Ideas, ch. 2 (pp. 40-68)

Supplementary Reading: Irving Fisher, The Purchasing Power of Money (1911), ch. 3.
David Laidler, Fabricating the Keynesian Revolution, ch. 5 (pp. 105-116).

Session 11– Will Cover the Following 2 Video Lectures – Class time will be devoted to discussion 

The Great Depression:  Keynes and His Critics (the 1930s) – Hoover

• J.M. Keynes, The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money, (pp 4-17, 27-32, 96-99, 113-119, 135-137, 148-158, 161-163, 199-204, 313-320).

Supplementary Reading:  David Laidler, Fabricating the Keynesian Revolution, ch. 2.
J.R. Hicks, “Mr. Keynes and the Classics,” in Critical Essays in Monetary Theory.

Macroeconometrics and the New Economics (1930-1950) – Hoover

• Mary Morgan, The History of Econometric Ideas, ch. 3 (pp. 79-100); ch. 4, (pp. 101-130).

Supplementary Reading:  Frisch, Ragnar, “Propagation Problems and Impulse Problems in Dynamic Economics,” in Economic Essays in Honor of Gustav Cassel, (pp. 171-205).
Lawrence Klein, The Keynesian Revolution, (pp. 56-90, 165-187).
Lerner, Abba, “Functional Finance and the Federal Debt,” Social Research 10(1), 1943, (pp. 468-478).

Tuesday June 13:

Session 12 – The Growth of Market Failure analysis: Utilitarian and Neoclassical Influences – Medema

• J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy. London: Longmans, Green, 1848. (pp. 479-83, 567-91).
• ​A.C. Pigou, The Economics of Welfare, 4th edn. London: Macmillan, 1932. (pp. 31-42, 131-135, 172-203, 329-335)
• Francis M. Bator, “The Anatomy of Market Failure,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 72 (August 1958), (pp. 351-79).

Session 13 – Will Cover the Following Video Lectures – Class time will be devoted to discussion 

The Empirical Microfoundations of Macroeconomics (1945-1970) – Hoover (video)

• David Laidler, The Demand for Money, ch. 6 (pp. 62-76)..
• Ronald Bodkin and Lawrence Klein, A History of Econometric Model Building, ch. 3 (pp. 56-80); ch. 4 (pp. 95-108).

Supplementary Reading:  Milton Friedman.  (1957) A Theory of the Consumption Function, (pp. 3-7, 20-37).

The Problem of Inflation (1950-1970) – Kevin Hoover (video)

• A.W.H. Phillips, “The Relation Between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wages in the United Kingdom 1961-1957,” Economica NS 25 (100), 1958, (pp.283-299) in M&S.
• Paul A. Samuelson, and Robert M. Solow, “Analytical Aspects of Anti-inflation Policy,”  American Economic Review 50 (2), 1960, (pp. 187-194).
• Milton Friedman, “The Role of Monetary Policy,” American Economic Review 58 (1), (pp.1-17) in M&S.

Supplementary Reading:  James Forder, “The Historical Place of the 'Friedman-Phelps' Expectations Critique,” European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 17(3), 2010, (pp. 493-511).

Wednesday June 14:

Session 14 – The Virginia-Chicago Challenge – Medema

• James M. Buchanan, “Positive Economics, Welfare Economics, and Political Economy,” Journal of Law and Economics 2 (October 1959), (pp. 124-38).
• Ronald H. Coase, “The Problem of Social Cost,” Journal of Law and Economics 3 (October 1960), (pp. 1-44).

Session 15 – Will Cover the Following Video Lectures – Class time will be devoted to discussion 

The Monetarist Counter-Revolution (1955-1975) – Kevin Hoover (video)

• Milton Friedman and Anna J. Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States, ch. 13 (pp. 676-700 and charts 62, 64).
• Nicholas Kaldor, The New Monetarism, Lloyd’s Bank Review, 1970, pp. 1-17.

Supplementary Reading:  James Tobin, “The Monetarist Counter-Revolution Today – an Appraisal,” Economic Journal, 91(361), March 1981, pp. 29-42.
J. Daniel Hammond, Theory and Measurement:  Causality Issues in Milton Friedman's Monetary Economics, (pp. 124-139).

New Classicals and New Keynesians (1970-1985) – Kevin Hoover (video)

• David Laidler, “The New-Classical Contribution to Macroeconomics,” in David Laidler, A Macroeconomics Reader.  London:  Routledge, 1997, (pp. 334-58).
• James Hartley, Kevin Hoover, and Kevin Salyer, “The Limits of Business Cycle Research,” in Hartley, Hoover, and Salyer, Oxford Review of Economic Policy 13(3), (pp. 34-54).

Supplementary Reading: Kevin D. Hoover and Warren Young, Rational Expectations: Retrospect and Prospect: A Panel Discussion with Michael Lovell, Robert Lucas, Dale Mortensen, Robert Shiller, and Neil Wallace,” Macroeconomic Dynamics, 17, 2013. pp. 1169–1192.

4:00pm – Visit David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Thursday June 15:

Session 16 – The Coase Theorem Controversy – Medema

• Stansilaw Wellisz, “On External Diseconomies and the Government-Assisted Invisible Hand,” Economica 31 (November 1964), (pp. 345-62).
• George J. Stigler, The Theory of Price, 3rd edn. New York: Macmillan, 1966, (pp. 110-14).
• G. Warren Nutter, “The Coase Theorem on Social Cost: A Footnote,” Journal of Law and Economics 11 (October 1968), (pp. 503-507).
• G.A. Mumey, “The ‘Coase Theorem’: A Reexamination,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 85 (November 1971), (pp. 718-23).
• E.J. Mishan, “Pangloss on Pollution,” Swedish Journal of Economics 73 (March 1971), (pp. 113-20).

Session 17 – The Chicago School – Medema

• H. Laurence Miller, “On the Chicago School of Economics,” Journal of Political Economy 70 (February 1962), (pp. 64-69).
• Melvin Reder, “Chicago Economics: Permanence and Change,” Journal of Economic Literature 20 (March 1982), (pp. 1-38).

Supplementary Reading: Edmund W. Kitch, “The Fire of Truth: A Remembrance of Law and Economics at Chicago, 1932-1970,” Journal of Law and Economics 26 (April 1983): 163-234.

6:30 pm, Closing Dinner at Devil's Krafthouse, West Union Building Basement
 

Friday June 16:

Session 18 – F. A. Hayek, His Life and Ideas – Bruce Caldwell (video)

• Handout on Hayek 
• F. A. Hayek, “The Use of Knowledge in Society” [1945], reprinted in The Market and Other Orders, edited by Bruce Caldwell, volume 15 (2014) of The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, chapter 3 (pp. 93-104).
• F. A. Hayek, “Individualism: True and False” [1945], reprinted in Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason: Texts and Documents, edited by Bruce Caldwell, volume 13 (2010) of The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek. Prelude (pp. 46-74).

The final hour of Session 18 will be a Summer Institute Wrap-Up – no readings.

Participants check out of hotel and depart