Welcome and Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Somebody says: "Of no school I am part,
Never to living master lost my heart,
Nor any more can I be said
To have learned anything from the dead."
That statement - subject to appeal -
Means "I'm a self-made imbecile."

(J.W. Goethe, Den Originalen, 1812).

WELCOME TO THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT WEBSITE! This web site serves as a repository of collected links and information on the history of economic thought, from the ancient times until the modern day. It is designed for students and the general public, who are interested in learning about economics from a historical perspective.

Although this page has been developed under the auspices and is hosted by the Department of Economics of the New School for Social Research, we would like to remind everyone visiting this site that neither the department nor the university are to be held responsible for any of the material contained here. (see our disclaimer)

This site was set up independently as a labour of love by Gonçalo L. Fonseca. I have not received any monetary compensation for these pages. My interest in HET is largely due to its ability to put into perspective, and thus to clarify, the issues of modern economics.

Much of what is contained here reflects my personal opinions and areas of interest. The commentary may seem quite idiosyncratic and some may disagree with portions of it. The information here has not been reviewed independently for accuracy, relevance and/or balance and thus deserves a considerable amount of caution. As a result, I would prefer not to be cited as reliable authorities on anything. However, I do not mind being listed as a general internet resource.

I encourage and welcome any and all feedback on this. Comments, complaints, queries and contributions should be addressed to hetwebsite@hotmail.com. I hope to answer all inquiries promptly, but this might not always be possible, so I beg for your patience.

We have gathered over five hundred economists on this website and plan to add more over time. Each individual web page contains a bibliography of their most important works plus some short comments on their individual contributions to economic theory and their relation to other economists and schools of thought. These pages were written largely without consultation of the economists involved: we can only hope that if they come across these pages, they would suggest changes and modifications that will make our exposition of their work more balanced and accurate.

As noted, this page is still under construction, so there many economists that should (and hopefully, eventually will) be included. If there is any economist or group of economists which you feel deserves more attention, please let us know.

Finally, it is an unwritten rule in the history of thought to refrain from discussing the work of contemporary economists, particularly those who are still active in the field and may still be eligible for Nobel Prizes, etc. We have not observed this rule for various reasons. Primarily, we believe that the most interesting debates and contributions in economics have been conducted within the last half-century and to omit them would be disingenuous. Focusing solely on dead economists lends the history of economic theory a rather "antiquarian" flavor which can be sometimes off-putting. As a result, the connection between "old" and "new" is often lost in the process, a situation which often leads students to overlook the fact that modern economics possesses rich veins that reach back deeply into its recent and not-so-recent past. We have built this site in the belief that the current shape of economics is the outcome of a complex and exciting evolution that continues to influence its progress today.

Our break-up of the history of economics into schools of thought ought not to be taken too seriously. Some of the schools we have included are well-known in the discipline and are generally identified as separate and distinct (e.g. the Austrian School). Other schools (e.g. the Paretians) many will not recognize. These we admit we have entirely made up. Nonetheless, the creation of these latter groups was not wholly arbitrary; we attempt to explain their distinctive characteristics in the relevant pages. Our purpose is to highlight the major tensions and differing patterns of thought that can be traced throughout economics. Division into "schools" of thought are a convenient vehicle to convey this.

This website contains brief and sometimes hastily-written surveys and essays on various topics in the history of economic thought. They were written to provide a "skeleton" for historical topics in a way that maximizes the "hyperlinking" possibilities which the web provides. The surveys are incomplete and suffer from all our twisted views, ignorance, misunderstandings and intolerable prejudices. Thus, if you feel that a topic is badly covered or so crippled with error that you must protest, please write to us.

We welcome all submissions of historical surveys which we can hyperlink through the site. If you wish to contribute a succinct survey on a particular topic (even -- perhaps especially -- if it covers material we have already touched upon), please, please do so!

These essays are here in good part for educational use by students. But by "educational use" we do not mean that you can download them and hand them in as term papers, school essays, etc. Not only would that be rather silly, but it is one of the most serious violations of the written and unwritten academic code of civilization at large. Do not underestimate the seriousness with which teachers, professors and school/university administrations treat cases of plagiarism -- penalties tend to be disproportionately large (yes, plagiarism is usually much more severely dealt with than other violations). So use great discretion when employing any of the resources on this site. Professors and teachers visit this site often. If we receive complaints from teachers that this website is being used for that purpose, we shall consider taking it down entirely.

The original purpose of the site was to organize world wide web resources on the history of economic thought. We have tried to make every effort to keep it up to date. Links on individual people and topics are contained in their respective pages. General resources are gathered on a separate links page.

We have composed a list of references which have guided us in the general construction of these web pages. We have made a belated effort to trace the source of the images we have used throughout this site, most of which are gathered from throughout the web. We have assumed that these are in the public domain. If not, please notify us immediately and we will take them down at once.

We hope you have an enjoyable time here. Please read the disclaimer before proceeding.

Home	Alphabetical Index	Schools of Thought	Surveys and Essays
Web Links	References	Contact	Frames

WELCOME!