Francis Edgeworth Flashcards
What were the characteristics of Victorian England?
This period of English history was characterised by rapid urbanisation, resulting in the development of slums, the use of child labour, and the spread of disease. Also saw the introduction of the Poor Laws Amendment Act (1834) by introducing workhouses
What was the significance of famines on economic policy?
Along with the spread of disease among newly urban areas, many parts of Europe experienced devastating famines. This triggered economic thought to focus on the efficient distribution of resources.
What was the Mathematical Revolution?
Following the rise of the marginalists in the early 19th century as a counter-counterrevolution to the Germanic Historicists, questions of measuring and interpersonal comparisons of utility became the key issue for economists
What did Edgeworth see as the applicability of mathematics to economics?
Logical deduction is applicable to cases without numerical symbols when there is an observable quantity or ordinal preferences
Mathematical reasoning helps explain and solve issues beyond the limits of social theory
Critical of Mill – Use of philosophy to identify the role of supply and demand, but misses role of market size and fluidity
Praises Marshall and Walras – Use of maths to identify aforementioned issues
What are the elements of utility that Edgeworth discusses?
First two vectors of hedonism (utility) relate to the time period and intensity that is experienced – first introduced by Jevons
Introduction of the ‘number’ component – referring to the amount of people effected
Influenced by Bentham’s conception of utilitarianism
How does Edgeworth believe that preferences are revealed?
Comparison of scientific findings regarding cellular energy to human psychology
When in a group, cellular behaviour/actions reveal their internal ‘preferences’
Actions reveal the self-interested preference of humans; indicates their highest feasible preference
Able to use reveal preferences to model and predict market behaviour
What does the Edgeworth Box indicate?
Model showing the relation of utility to the equilibrium of trade.
It depicts the willingness to trade between goods.
The points of tangency on the contact curve (Pareto efficient) is where trade occurs.
How is Edgeworth responding to the work of William Jevons?
Largely credited for introducing utility as value, Jevons centred human behaviour around self-interest.
As Edgeworth’s economic mentor, his influence is prevalent throughout his writings and is a key reason for Edgeworth’s focus on utility and self-interest in his models.
Additionally, Jevon’s introduction of intervals to the discipline further influenced Edgeworth’s strong mathematical and logical approach.
