Mrshall and His Circle

Abstract

Marshall's theoretical and educational efforts and success in the field of economics was already highly appreciated even in his day. Nevertheless, it is a curious fact that almost all of his students and disciples at Cambridge or at other institutions have gradually hesitated to follow the lines he indicated. This is one of the reasons why he was called a ‘soaring eagle’ or ‘enigma’. In order to not only reassess Marshall's economic thought, but also to elucidate his attitude foward contemporary economists and their methodology, much important material has been published in the last decade, namely by Whitaker (1990), Raffaelli (1990), Groenewegen (1995), Raffaelli (1995), Whitaker (1996), Groenewegen (1997), Groenewegen (1998). These works consist of a new bulky biography, collected works of 8 volumes, more than a thousand items of correspondence, a collection of ‘unknown voices’ in response to Marshall's economics, critical essays, and Marshall's unpublished lectures. Also very beneficial for Marshall scholarship are materials such as The collected Works of Sidgwick (1996) and Fawcett (1995). In the beginning of the new century, we can start to analyze such questions as ‘Is Marshall a communitarian or a libertarian in his circle?’ In this case, we should like to include Sidgwick and Fawcett in the Cambridge Circle.