|Peter Boettke|
I give my first lecture in modern history of economic thought class tonight, and we are starting with Alfred Marshall's Principles, Book I and Book V. We are also discussing Baumol's QJE (2000) article on what Marshall knew and didn't know about modern economics.
In my lecture I am presenting what I consider the 5 canonical models of neoclassicism and then discussing how those models are interpreted by various streams of economic thought. I will also be discussing the nature of modeling and how economists have understood that intellectual exercise through the years. It turns out Marshall is an outstanding starting point for these sort of discussions.
My selection of the canonical models are (1) Max U, (2) Edgeworth Box, (3) Supply and Demand, (4) Perfect Competition, and (5) Production Possibilities Frontier.