Final Exam Prep Flashcards
What was John Stuart Mill’s background?
One of the founders of the philosophy of Liberalism
Made classical economists clearer
Kind of a libertarian, kind of a socialist.
Who did JS Mill’s dad know and how did it influence him?
JAmes Mill popularized Bentham’s ideas and helped urge Ricardo to write and be politically active. Both Bentham and Ricardo were bid influences and greatly educatedon JS Mill
What were the three books that JS Mill wrote?
Principles of Poltical Economy
Utilitarianism (Refinements of Bentham’s ideas)
On Liberty
What was JS Mill’s On Liberty about?
(A libertarian classic in philosophy as a protest against coercive moralism): against the govt. (and his mother) forcing moralism on man.
Similar to the classical school in some libertarian traditions
He rejects the idea that liberty is simply for the purpose of allowing selfish indifference (not trying to legalize pot or prostitution)
Believed that a liberal system will bring people to the good more effectively than physical or emotional coercion.
Believed that economies function best when left to their own devices
How does JS Mill defend Say’s Law?
Mill does not believe there can be underconsumption or overproduction.
Believed that liberty lead to better results.
What was Mill’s philisophical position on the limits of liberty?
He recognized that government interference under Capitalism could be required by some greater good.
What made Mill be classified as a classical liberal
Supported Say’s Law
Strong supporter of Ricardo’s system
Supports free international trade
Diminishing returns to agriculture limit economic growth.
Very much in line with these classical economists.
What did JS Mill introduce the concept of?
Supply and Demand Schedules
Also included the ideas of elasticity.
Showed the functional relationship between price and quantity for both supply and demand
Advanced the value theory through this because the market value gets determined through the interaction of supply and demand, which also establishes the quantity demanded.
Simplified and systematized these concepts
How did Mill show that Ricardo’s comparative advantage was incomplete?
Shows that Ricardo fails to show how the gain from trade gets divided
Ricardo also ignored the patterns of demand that will also impact terms of trade
Mill also introduces reciprocal demand (the value of an imported good is the value of the commodity exported to pay for it.)
If I export butter, I have to get at least the value of that butter imported through guns.
What surprising fact of life did Mill recognize in his Principles book?
How easily free economies bounce back in the wake of devastation.
How quickly things return back to normal.
Recovery mainly depends on whether or not the country has suffered massive depopulation or not. Freedom of labor, capitalism, etc. are required.
If there is a demand for a place, even if it gets burned down, it still bounces back quite quickly if people want it.
Even though he is regarded as the last great classical economist, what did Mill remain sympathetic towards?
Socialism
Had a humanistic concern for greater equality of wealth and opportunity.
Didn’t think it was fair for a wealthy child to grow up and stay wealthy. Doesn’t like how some people receive wealth through no effort of their own. Doesn’t think its fair that people are poor through no fault of their own.
What did Mill focus on in his books within the Principles Text?
In the first three books, he focused on statics (economic laws of a stationary and unchanging society)
In the last two books, he added Dynamics (economic in the context of a changing society) These changes were brought on by progress, or alterations in distribution/production. Societal-wide changes through evolution that move society in different directions.
What was the evolution of society?
Futile society, mercantilist economy, capitalism, socialism, communism.
What did Mill believe the rate of profit was on the path towards?
Like Ricardo, Mill believed that the rate of profit would continue to fall and the entire economic system was on a path toward equilibrium.
Thought the economic would end in a stationary state. Unlike Ricardo, Mill was not pessimistic about this state. He believed that wealthy countries such as England were near equilibrium and oculd not work to perfect humanity buy working on moral goals.
What was Mill’s main concern about socialism?
Concerned about equality of opportunity: he does just want to tax the wealth, but also wants to give everyone a good education
What did Mill believe about the stationary state?
That it is a precondition for lasting social reform
Once this state is reached, the state could get on with solving the problems that really mattered (equal distribution).
Believed that a stationary state could lead us to perfection
How does Mill take Ricardo Too far?
Mill totally dicorced the principle of distribution from the laws of production.
The idea that if you produce a whole lot more, then you will get to have a whole lot more.
The flaw of socialism.
How does Mill take Bentham too far?
Mill diminishes the utility of wealth.
Believed that utility was broader (less materialistic) than Bentham’s take, but the sole measure of what do with society.
Believed in the qualitative separation of pleasures, whereas Bentham treats all forms of happiness as equal.
Mill argues that intellectual and moral pleasures (higher pleasures) are superior to more physical forms of pleasure (lower pleasures).
The “simple pleasures” tend to be preferred by people who have no experience with high art, and are therefore not in a proper position to judge.
How did Mill twist Ricardo’s and Bentham’s ideas?
Believed in Ricardo’s stationary state and Bentham-like utilitarianism with a Mill-ian twist.
Beleived the stationary state would get us closer to a world in which people would be free from the pressing demands of economic necessiry and would thus become more open to improvements in the quality of life.
What 3 types of socialism did Mill consider?
- Revolutionary: Radical/violent overthrows (rise up against the current institution and create a better one.)
- Fascist: Bureaucratic regulation and control of distribution (and yet, supports free enterprise)
- Utopian: cooperative communities (social Utopian communes that have always
failed.)
Critical of teh revolutionary and fascist, but was sympathetic toward the utopian.
How does Mill believe the utopian socialist society should be achieved?
Requires much liberty and should not come about by violence.
How was Mill like and unlike classical liberals?
Like the classical liberals: non-interference as a general rule and the burden of proof lies with those who promote a new intervention
Unlike classical liberals: Meeting the “burden of proof” only showing that the intervention was expedient in utilitarian terms
What was Antooine-Augustin Counot’s Background?
1801-1877
French philosopher and mathematician
Man modern economists believe that his works are the point of departure for modern econ. analysis.
Believed that practical uses of mathematics in economics do not necessarily involve strict numerical precision.
Defended shorthand math to express complex ideas.
Created Law of Deman function: D=f(P)
Believed that economic analysis has to be grounded in empirical observation and facts.
What book did Cournot write in 1938?
Researches on the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth
What was Cournot’s most famous model of?
Monopoly and Duopoly
What is Cournot Competition?
a modern term for an economic model used to describe an industry structure in which companies compete on the amount of output they will produce, which they decide on independently of each other and at the same time.
What does the monopoly graph prove?
One must keep producing until Marginal revenue=Marginal costs. When MC=MR, then the slope of Total costs and total revenues must be the same. To make the most profit, you want to biggest difference between TR and TC.
What must one assume when examining Cournot’s duopoly graph?
Each producer assumes that the other will keep his output constant, and that they are making the same thing.
Both knwo the AD curve for the product, but they don’t have any other information about the other prerson’s product. Assume that anything that B does will not affect A
What does Cournot’s duopoly map tell us?
Without collusion, how much does each firm produce and how much profit will they receive. The duopoly’s production rate can be calculated in comparison to a competitive case through the equation N/(n+1). The more sellers you have, the closer you will get to the competitive quantity.
What was Jules Dupuit’s background?
1804-1866
Italian-born French civil engineer and economist
Impact of Econ. included his analysis of: Marginal utility, demand curves, consumer surplus, monopoly pricing situations, marginal cost pricing.
How did Dupuit view political economy?
As a combined science of reason and observation.
His major effort was aimed at measuring public utility (trying to create a social welfare function. Also aimed to measure the impact of public goods and services.
What was Dupuit the first of doing?
Present a cogent discussion of the concept of marginal utility to a demand curve.
Concluded that utility dimishes with quantity.
Also concluded that each consumer attaches a different utility to the same object according to the quantity he can consume.
Believed that at a higher quality, you actually get less marginal utility/happiness.
Downward sloping willingness to pay coincides with marginal utility of happiness.
What was Dupuit’s Provision of public goods and marginal concepts?
Belief that government should provide the goods if the goods cover total annual costs while providing more net utility. The loss of utility must be higher than the gain of utility.
What is the Methodenstreit?
German for method dispute
German Historical school (Schmoller) vs. Austrians (Menger)
Battle over ideas from around 1883-1900.
What did those in the Historical School believe
Contended that economists could develop new and better social laws from the collection and study of statistics and historical materials.
Specific dynamic institutions are the largest variable in changes in political economy. Thus each country will have its own economic answers. There is no universal law that applies to everyone.
Each country has a different historical and social story.
What did the Austrians believe?
Economics was the work of philosophical logic. Could only ever be about developing rules from first principles. these rukes can then help us interpret interaction.
Menger emphasized the subjective factors of individual action.
Human motives and social interaction as far too complex to be amenable to statistical analysis.
How does the battle of the methods take place?
Menger acts first: 1883 book investigations into the Method of Social Sciences starts to show flaws of the historical school’s approach.
The direct attack on the German Historical School lead Schmoller to responded quickly with an unfavorable and quite hostile review of Menger’s book.
How did the term “Austrian School of Economics” come into existence?
Result of the Methodenstreit
Schmoller intended it to be a mean comment that reflected backwardedness and obscuritism of Habsburg Austria compared to the more modern Prussians.
