Alfred Marshall (1942 - 1924), a protagonist for some, an antagonist for others, a famous infamous intellectual of the economic discipline is often cited as the founding father of the neoclassical economics. Among other things, he (in)famously proclaimed that prices on the markets aredetermined by the demand (consumers maximizing utility) and supply (firms maximizing profits). His tools of economic analysis were later employed by Paul Samuelson in the new syntesis. To this day Marshall's economics are taught to the econ undergrads all are around the world, and for this, heterodox exonomists often take a critical stance when one mentions his name.
His infamy, however, is not fully justified. He used the theoretical frameworks of Jevons and Menger, but he was critical of the mechanical analogies - he was not one of the "equilibrium guys". In his attempt to analyze the world as a continuously changing organism, he applied biological rather than physical metaphors (see Raffaelli, 2004)*.
He also understood the limitations of mathematical knowledge, which is "exact but limited" and needs to be “combined with broader estimates that rest on uncertain foundations” (Marshall 1919, 676)**. Unfortunately, "his" creation - the neoclassical economics - took a different turn. The mathematized economics today manifest in a dogmatic theory, often incomprehensible to the mortals, a perfect device for rhetorical persuasion.
Like Keynes and most of today's heterodox economists, Marshall understood that to better understand the economic world, discursive and interdisciplinary analysis must supplement valid content-emptied mathematical logical structures. And this is important. The understanding is, nevertheless, the cornerstone of any scientific inquiry.
Author: Tej Gonza
His infamy, however, is not fully justified. He used the theoretical frameworks of Jevons and Menger, but he was critical of the mechanical analogies - he was not one of the "equilibrium guys". In his attempt to analyze the world as a continuously changing organism, he applied biological rather than physical metaphors (see Raffaelli, 2004)*.
He also understood the limitations of mathematical knowledge, which is "exact but limited" and needs to be “combined with broader estimates that rest on uncertain foundations” (Marshall 1919, 676)**. Unfortunately, "his" creation - the neoclassical economics - took a different turn. The mathematized economics today manifest in a dogmatic theory, often incomprehensible to the mortals, a perfect device for rhetorical persuasion.
Like Keynes and most of today's heterodox economists, Marshall understood that to better understand the economic world, discursive and interdisciplinary analysis must supplement valid content-emptied mathematical logical structures. And this is important. The understanding is, nevertheless, the cornerstone of any scientific inquiry.
Author: Tej Gonza
References
* Raffaelli, Tiziano (2003). Marshall’s Evolutionary Economics. London: Routledge (2004). Whatever happened to Marshall’s industrial economics? European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 11(2), 209–29
** Marshall, Alfred (1919). Industry and Trade. London: Macmillian