Ec311 History of Economics:

How Theories Change

Dr Helen Yaffe
Economic History Department
2015-16

Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

Welcome to Ec311
Lectures: Monday 11-12noon
Helen Yaffe, Office SAR 6.07
Office Hour: Tuesdays: 1.30-2.30pm
Class Teacher:
Helen Yaffe
Invited Lecture: John Gent on Money in week 6
22 x 1 hour lectures
20 x 1 hour classes
3 written assignments
Exam = 100% mark
Ec311, Week 1
Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

A stop and think course

Where you learn how we got to the economics
we have today?
Where you read the classics of the field
Where you explore history, philosophy and
sociology of science accounts of how and why
theories change in science
AND, because the economics of today will be
out of date in 25 years time, this course may
prevent you getting stuck in a time-warp!

Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

This course does NOT assume:

That modern economics is correct, and that all
change is progress towards our current true
knowledge, because that would imply
economists of the past were misguided or stupid
That the only way to do economics as a science
is with modern technical tools such as maths
and stats, models and experiments
That the economic behaviour and the economy
have been stable objects to observe and
understand over the centuries, or that
economists have always believed this
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

This course does assume:

That the economists of the past were smart
observers, analysts and theorists
That they made sense of their world with ideas,
concepts and methods different from ours
That economic science can also be made out of
words, diagrams, arguments and tables
That economics has and will continue to change,
and there are good ways of understanding those
changes - BUT we are not looking for progress
Ec311, Week 1
Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

So, this course requires that you:

Use your imagination to forget modern
economics (or at least learn to ignore it) and to
enter into the world views of past economists
Do not translate: dont try to understand old
economics by reading it as if it were current
economics, and dont assume economic terms
have the same meaning then and now
Do read the original texts most carefully and
use the materials on theory change to help
you get perspective
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

How Do Theories Change?

Avoid Whig History: that all history is a story of
progress to our present day, and so
economics of past times are full of mistakes.
Problems of evaluation:
1. How do we know economists of past were
wrong? Or that they were right? Can we
ascertain truth in science?
2. Can we assume past is the same kind of
place as present? Which past? (Eg Tariffs:
pro in 16-17th, mid 19th, mid 20th; anti in late
18th, mid 19th, late 20th centuries)
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

Explanations for Theory Change

5 lectures
provide analytical and evaluative resources
from science studies - history, sociology and
philosophy of science ..
to help you think about the processes by which
economic science changes over time
to help you recognise and explain the
differences between primary texts
give shape to our broader narratives about the
history of economics
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

I. Metaphor-Led History (week 4)

Scientists import ideas from other sciences
In economics, typically from physics, mechanics,
hydraulics, and biology
The use of analogical (or metaphorical)
comparison between fields
Such analogical materials may alter concepts,
theories, diagrams, methods
So - importing metaphors may lead to theory
change, and has done so in economics
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

II. Historians Schools and Lakatoss

Research Programmes (week 9)
Historians of Economic Science rejects Whig
History, but accept schools: a period and
place of shared ideas and practices whose
definition depends on historical reconstruction
Philosophy of Science ideas due to Imre Lakatos
(in 1960s) involve the rational reconstruction of
scientific research programmes: a collection of
shared ideas which constrain directions of theory
change (ignores context of time and place);
explains how programmes decline
Ec311, Week 1
Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

III. Kuhns Revolutions (week 12)

Thomas Kuhn (1960s) combined history and
philosophy of science ideas to track and explain
the seeds that prompted, and process of,
revolutionary change in scientific theories;
explains why big changes in scientific beliefs
(and so new how schools may emerge)
As a by-product, he also explored and
characterised periods of normal science (small
incremental change), in other words, he also
asked: why science mostly does not change
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

IV. Economic History and History

of Economics (week 16)
Events of the economy create challenges for
economists and lead to theory change:
New phenomena engender new accounts (eg
industrial revolution of 18th and 19th Cs; mass
consumption in late 19th C)
Big events that cannot be explained by existing
theories prompt new theories (eg Great
Depression of 1930s)
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

V. Sociology of Science (week 18)

Explanations for theory change lie not in the
internal dynamic of the content of the science
(Lakatos and Kuhn) but are externally located
in the interests of the scientists: scientific
content/change is narrowly determined and so
can be individually constructed from the
scientists own ambitions
in the social and political field in which scientists
work: science is broadly socially constructed
and new science may be performative in
changing economy to be like scientists accounts
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

Lectures
Two kinds: theory change (above); history of
economics [see course outline for topics]
Set the scenes, give general outlines, and
provide materials to think with: they
complement not substitute for primary text
reading of the course pack
Skeleton notes (on ppt slides or WORD files) will
be available on Moodle for downloading in
advance
If you dont come to lectures, those notes may
not make much sense!
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

Classes depend on your READING

Begin week 3
Read the primary (original) texts from coursepack carefully and before class
Use the reading questions (on Moodle) to guide
your reading: these form the problem sets for
class discussion
Materials: primary texts in course-pack* from
C422 (background materials, reference works in
course guide, links to recordings on Moodle)
THIS COURSE IS NOT AN EASY OPTION THE
READING IS HARD WORK
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

Course-pack of primary texts

Costs 34 (means you dont have to spend lots
of time downloading and printing)
CASH ONLY - Pick up from C422.
Readings for first class are available via Moodle
link for Ec311, so if you are not sure about the
course, look at those readings before you
commit.

Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

Assessment
Formative assessment during course: three
pieces of written work: one needing short
paragraphs about text readings; two essays (due
dates in course guide)
Examination: 3 hours, changed format for this
year: some short questions, some longer essay
questions
If you do not do the course-pack reading and
cannot answer the reading questions, you are
unlikely to pass the examination!
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

About You?

Is your main field economics?

Is your main field history?
What other main fields?
Who has done a history of economics course
before?
Who has read Adam Smith before?
Who has read Jevons before?
Instant feedback please who has decided not to
take this course?
Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015

Questions?

Ec311, Week 1

Morgan & Yaffe, Department of Economic History, 2015