The History of Economic Thought
Online ISSN : 1884-7358
Print ISSN : 1880-3164
ISSN-L : 1880-3164
Volume 55, Issue 2
Displaying 1-18 of 18 articles from this issue
  • His Economic Study and Thought in Historical Contexts
    Hideo Tanaka
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 1-19
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: August 23, 2019
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Tanaka Masaharu was born in Kyoto in 1925, and lived through the long Showa Era (1925-1989) to the Heisei Era (till 2000). He grew up in traditional Kyoto and studied there, leading an eventful and exciting life, both as a person and an academic. At Kyoto University, he studied economics and the history of ideas, and in his later graduate career, he concentrated on Max Weber, especially his Wissenschaftslehre, followed by the study of eighteenth-century Franceʼs Morelly and Mablyʼs socialist ideas.  In 1959, Tanaka published a Japanese translation of a commentary by Max We-ber, Der Nationalstaat und die Volkswirtschaftspolitik (1895). While his interest in Marx, Lenin, and Weber deepened, he came to know Plehanov (1856-1918), the forefather of Russian Marxism, which motivated him to study Russian Marxism. His efforts resulted in the publication of A Study on the History of Russian Economic Thought in 1967, a work acclaimed as “epoch-making” among Japanese academia. This work earned him a Doctor of Economics, and he was promoted to professor in 1968.  During his tenure, Tanaka endeavored to construct a more refined Marxian eco-nomic theory. Before resigning from Kyoto University, he founded a research circle known as “The Methodology Research Meeting” in 1973. He left the university for a teaching post, focusing on Marxian economic theory at Konan University. Here, Tan-aka started a reappraisal of the legacy of social thought in the West. He read Machia-velli, Hobbes, Hume, Smith, and J. S. Mill and lectured on them. He gained a new in-sight into Western liberalism as the result of translating Hayekʼs essays. Tanaka served as President of the Japanese Society for the History of Economic Thought (JSHET) from 1987 through 1989. At this time, Tanaka deepened his friendship with the highly respected historian of economics, Noboru Kobayashi. In 1998, Tanaka published an English article titled “The Logic of the Genesis of Mon-ey,” as the subject of money was one of long-held interest, though his early interest in Marx proved an enduring one as it appeared in the article. Earlier in 1985, Tanaka had published a review article, “The Academic World of Economics in early 1890s-Britain,” followed shortly by a number of others, including “A List of the writings of A. Marshall (1872-1889).” He could not, however, com-plete his study of Marshall, having planned to concretely elucidate the process of for-mation of Marshall Economics by applying the same historical method to Marshall that he had applied in his early study on Weber. He did edit and publish a substantial book during this period: A Comparative Study of Liberal Economic Thought (1997). He had intended to publish at least two more books, with The Issues of Max Weber published posthumously in 2001. Tanaka did, however, manage to edit a small book, A Memorial of a Historian of Economic Thought, before he passed away following a long sickness in 2000, at the age of 75. JEL classification numbers: B 14, B 19, B 31.
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  • An Analysis of Gide and Ristʼs History of Economic Doctrines
    Keiko Kurita
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 20-36
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: August 23, 2019
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    The paper raises two issues: first, it shows unique characters in the history of economic thought in France, and second, it clarifies the disciplinary position of the History of Economic Thought in French higher education at the end of the nineteenth century. Thus, the paper in-tends to define the historical contexts in which the academic discipline of the History of Eco-nomic Thought gained such social and institu-tional significance in France at the time. An examination of the nineteenth-century process of French institutionalization of eco-nomics in higher education demonstrates a rival-ry between the “Grandes Ecoles” and the uni-versities. Classical economics in Say’s tradition dominated the former institutions, excepting a few engineering schools where mathematical economics was introduced. In universities, the course of economics was instead established first in law faculties, and the History of Eco-nomic Thought was introduced as training for law students in economics. Gide and Rist wished to show the students various trends of econom-ics and, for that purpose, published their History of Economic Doctrines as a course textbook. Both authors were Protestants and support-ers of Dreyfus during the famous affair (1894― 1906). They sided more or less with the eco-nomic ideas of Walras and social economics. Their common scientific outlook involved a method of balanced grouping, mapping, and the assessment of various theories by way of inhib-iting a particular inclination to endorse any one of them. This method served their common cen-tral goals of relativizing different theories, and resulted in successful abating of the dominance of classical economics of the time. It was these ideas, in fact, that characterized their works. Fi-nally, their ideas were able to show the signifi-cance of newly emerging trends and theories like mathematical economics and social eco-nomics. JEL classification numbers: B 19, B 31, N 33.
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  • Andreas Predöhlʼs Concept of Concentrated Economic Poles
    Tadahisa Mizuno
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 37-53
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: August 23, 2019
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    The relationship between the Nazi Large Space Economy Project and the integration of Europe is rarely discussed. Predöhlʼs thoughts were ap-plied not only to the Nazi Project, but also to the European integration after World War II. Predöhl maintained that conflict arises be-tween economic space and political space, when economic space goes beyond the borders of po-litical space (national territory).   After the Industrial Revolution, the econom-ic space of the world economy expanded and concentrated economic poles emerged succes-sively in Europe, U. S. A., and the Soviet Union. However, the depression of the 1920s prevented the efficient functioning of the European pole, because every country tried to protect its own economy by restricting foreign trade and creat-ing a block economy. Controls on foreign trade and exchange were strengthened. The economies of big countries, like the U. S. A. and the Soviet Union, were more open than those of European countries. There were two ways to extend the econom-ic space in Europe: (1) the Nazi Project and (2) European integration in the form of the Europe-an Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC). The Nazi Project was based on military control while the EEC was federal and communal. However, the Nazi Project was backed by military power, and thus, it opposed economic rationality. The only way to reconstruct the European pole was by reducing the influence of national politics.   Predöhlʼs idea that political space should harmonize with economic space is worth recon-sidering today and provides valuable hints to-ward understanding the present world situation. JEL classification numbers: B 15, B 31, F 15.
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  • Naoki Matsuyama
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 54-72
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: August 23, 2019
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    This paper addresses the relativity of ‘chivalry’ and ‘fair wage’ in both Alfred Marshall’s eco-nomics and Thomas Carlyle’s works. Particular-ly, it is well-known that Marshall’s theory of economic growth has two core notions: ‘standard of life’ and ‘economic chivalry,’ but only the lat-ter has not always been considered as an eco-nomic notion. In order to define the theoretical implication of ‘economic chivalry,’ it is impor-tant to associate the ‘economic chivalry’ with the economic concept of ‘a fair rate of wage’ that is one of the fundamental conditions of economic growth. The reason is that the common signifi-cance of both concepts is to make sure of the sense of the word ‘fair’ on employment under the economic freedom. In the meantime, it must be noted that Carlyle’s Past and Present (1843), which propounded the ‘Captains of Industry’ to improve upon the condition of economic free-dom as ‘laissez-faire,’ also illustrates the relativi-ty of ‘chivalry’ and ‘fair wage.’ This paper, hence, shows that Marshall’s ‘economic chivalry’ and ‘a fair rate of wage’ has the philosophical similarity with Carlyle’s ‘chivalry of labour’ and ‘fair wage’ principle. Moreover, the paper also demonstrates that there exists an ideological consistency be- tween Marshall’s ‘A Fair Rate of Wages’ (1887) and his ‘Social Possibilities of Economic Chiv-alry’ (1907). JEL classification numbers: B 13, B 31, J 30.
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  • Tomoyuki Arai
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 73-91
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: August 23, 2019
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    This paper analyzes Dugald Stewartʼs (1753― 1828) work on education, focusing on the fourth book, Of the Education of the Lower Orders, in his Lectures on Political Economy (1800― 1810). Stewartʼs motivation to address education in his Lectures arose from a genuine interest in the lower orderʼs lack of intellect.   During the late eighteenth century, British society underwent rapid social changes, such as the diffusion of the press and advancement in the sciences. Stewart asserted the need for a new educational system commensurate with these social changes. On the other hand, Stewart was also interested in the progression of industriali-zation and the problems faced by laborers in an increasingly large labor force. He recognized that many factory laborers had been demonstrat-ing against moral corruption and ignorance as a result of excessive work. In response, Stewart demanded cuts in working hours and empha-sized workersʼ need for education. He thought it important to provide factory laborers incentives to work and thereby achieve happiness; he be-lieved such actions could help improve the hu-man mind, as repeatedly emphasized in his Lec-tures.   For Stewart, “the incentive” was key to con-necting his moral philosophy with education. In his arguments on education, “the incentive,” to be provided to society was rooted in his practi-cal moral philosophy. With regard to this point, I illuminate the significance of Stewart’s view re-garding the effect of reading and literary educa-tion for incentivizing the “lower orders.”   In the concluding section, I briefly summa-rize the paper and describe the significance of Stewart’s original view of education in the con-text of the history of economic thought at the turn of the nineteenth century in Britain. JEL classification numbers: B 30, B 31, I 31.
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  • Shinya Kawawaki
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 92-105
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: August 23, 2019
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    This paper explores why Hume wrote essays on tax and public credit in his Political Discourses, in light of the conclusion of his A Treatise of Human Nature. In the Treatise, Hume reached the conclusion that a stable government is need-ed to maintain the stability of the society, which is likely to be diminished by the various kinds of self-interest of its members. According to his es-say on public credit in the Discourses, the Brit-ish government suffered its public finance crisis due to struggles among political parties and the prevailing policies governing the international balance of power. He worried that the increasing lack of faith in the British governmentʼs ability to manage public finance would bring about its collapse. Furthermore, he asserted that should the British government fall, civil society would be unable to subsist. Therefore, he suggested ways for the British government to handle and overcome its public finance crisis in his essay on tax. Humeʼs prescription was as follows: The consumption of luxury should be increased, be-cause individuals always seek luxurious goods to gratify their own desires. Moreover, he advo-cated encouraging refinement in the arts and manners, because he perceived that this would decrease the price of luxurious goods and in-crease their consumption and the tax revenue. Thus, Hume considered excise on luxury goods as the best measure for overcoming the crisis. The reason for Hume writing these essays on tax and public debt lay in his belief that the col-lapse of the British government needed to be avoided at all costs, in the interests of maintain-ing social order. JEL classification number: B 12.
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  • Memories of his Studies on Adam Smith
    Hisashi Shinohara
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 106-108
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: August 23, 2019
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  • Norigazu Takami
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 109-115
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: August 23, 2019
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  • Isao Mutoh
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 116-117
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: November 28, 2019
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  • Toichiro Asada
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 118-119
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: November 28, 2019
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  • Naoki Matsuyama
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 120-121
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: November 28, 2019
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  • Sachiko Motoyoshi
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 122-123
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: November 28, 2019
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  • Masahiro Kawamata
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 124-125
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: November 28, 2019
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  • Shin Kubo
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 126-127
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: November 28, 2019
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  • 進治 Fukuda
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 128-129
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: November 28, 2019
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  • Junichi Himeno
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 130-131
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: November 28, 2019
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  • Naoki Hayashi
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 132-133
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: November 28, 2019
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  • Toshiaki Hirai
    2014 Volume 55 Issue 2 Pages 134-136
    Published: 2014
    Released on J-STAGE: November 28, 2019
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