02/10/2023

MSC IN ECONOMICS
ISCTE-IUL
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT

1.THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF ECONOMIC IDEAS:

PRELIMINARY METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

Luís Francisco Carvalho

Department of Political Economy
Centre for International Studies
2023/2024

STRUCTURE

1. Approaches to the study of past economic ideas

2. The history of economic thought as a scientific field

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1. APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PAST ECONOMIC IDEAS

Why should we study the history of economic thought?

• Intellectual interest and improving our economic culture
• Understanding the origins of current theories/ideas provides a
firmer foundation for our economic knowledge
• Current debates and controversies normally have historical
precedents and knowing them can be very useful, particularly in
times of uncertainty
• Understanding the plural and contingent nature of economic
knowledge
• Past ideas can be inspirational for future developments

« The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are
right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly
understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who
believe themselves to be exempt from any intellectual influences, are
usually the slaves of some defunct economist. »

John Maynard Keynes

The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936)

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1. APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PAST ECONOMIC IDEAS

• Rational Reconstruction
Past ideas are seen from the perspective of today’s dominant
ideas, tends to highlight ‘progress’ and the cumulative nature of
economic knowledge – progressive elimination of ‘error’;
sometimes called ‘Whig history’

• Historical Reconstruction
Understanding past ideas means taking into account the context
(time and place) from where they emerged, attention to the
‘internal’ logic and consistency of discourses, and also to debate
and controversy.

1. APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF PAST ECONOMIC IDEAS

A ‘pure’ historical reconstruction is impossible.

We always see the past through the lens of the present. Besides, it
is interesting to look at the genesis and prefiguration of concepts
and ideas that would come to play an important role in economics.

However, our approach will place a central importance on context.

• Context of ‘production’ of economic ideas
Economic reality, ‘disciplinary’, socio-political, cultural

• The consequences of economic ideas

Namely in terms of economic policy.
‘Reflexivity’ (Anthony Giddens), ‘Performativity’ (Michel Callon)

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2. HET AS A SCIENTIFIC FIELD

The emergence of HET as a subdiscipline within economics is

recent: it took root in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s and
1980s

This does not mean that previously interest on the history of past
ideas was absent. On the contrary, all major works by prominent
economists (Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Alfred
Marshall, John Maynard Keynes, etc.) included historical
reflections on the ideas of their predecessors.

The major scientific reviews (QJE, EJ, AER, JPE, etc.) frequently
published articles on topics of HET

2. HET AS A SCIENTIFIC FIELD

The increasing mathematization of economic discourse, and the

rising specialization within economics, originated the need for HET
to become a distinct field, creating its own research networks with
their annual conferences (European, North-American, Iberian,
Australian, Italian, French, Japanese, etc.).

Major specialized journals:

• History of Political Economy
• European Journal of the History of Economic Thought
• Journal of the History of Economic Thought

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2. HET AS A SCIENTIFIC FIELD

Some other journals and reviews that regularly publish HET
research:
• Review of Social Economy
• Cambridge Journal of Economics
• Journal of Economic Issues
• American Journal of Economics and Sociology
• Forum for Social Economics
• Journal of Economic Methodology