Marshall and the critics to the classical political economy

Vol. 30 No. 2 (2010)

Apr-Jun / 2010
Published April 1, 2010
PDF-Portuguese (Português (Brasil))
PDF-Portuguese (Português (Brasil))

How to Cite

Mattos, Laura Valladão de. 2010. “Marshall and the Critics to the Classical Political Economy”. Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 30 (2):271-92. https://centrodeeconomiapolitica.org.br/repojs/index.php/journal/article/view/442.

Marshall and the critics to the classical political economy

Laura Valladão de Mattos
Professora do Departamento de Economia e do Programa de Estudos Pós-Graduados em Economia Política da PUC-SP.
Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 30 No. 2 (2010), Apr-Jun / 2010, Pages 271-292

Abstract

This paper analyzes the period of transition between the Millian orthodoxy and the Marshallian orthodoxy with special emphasis on the influence of the economic debates of the 1870’s and 1880’s in the genesis of Marshall’s conceptions. It is argued that in these decades Political Economy was questioned in three different fronts: by the theoretical critics, by the adepts of the historical method, and by the humanists. It is also argued that Marshall answered these criticisms, sometimes by accepting and incorporating them, sometimes by rejecting them, and in doing so he was able to construct a new disciplinary consensus – that gave the foundations to the practice of the next generation of economists.

Jel Classification: B1; B12; B13.


Keywords: classical political economy Marshall Jevons historical method humanist criticism