Histoire de la pensée économique

After a short introduction to the debates in philosophy (and sociology) of science and how they could be applied to economics, we turn to the history of the discipline itself. We begin with a very long period (from Plato and Aristotle to Aquinas) during which ethics (later on also theology) cannot be separated from economic debates. We then show the emergence of Mercantilism parallel to the emergence of modern states, and the development of a (macro-)economic thought separated from ethical or religious concerns. We analyze the link between mercantilist ideas and economic policies at the time. We then show the smooth transition from these (interventionist) “school” to a “liberal” school of economics. We particularly stress the role of French economists of the 18th century in this emergence (Boisguillebert, Quesnay). We end up with the Classical School of Political Economy: Smith, Ricardo (analyzed more deeply) and Marx (the last Classical economist).

The course aims at giving students some idea of the principles current and groups of theories existing in economics through a genealogical perspective, as well as discussing what is a « science » in the realm of « social sciences ». Economics is particularly interesting with its objective of mimicking “hard sciences”. We nevertheless discuss some key issue as how to prove things in economics, how much could it be independent from politics, philosophy and religion. We tend to stress technological progress in economics but also cyclicality in ideas. We hope to give students a kind of roadmap allowing them to better understand contemporary debates. The link between economic theories, economic policies and politics is stressed.

Required and corequired courses

Formal lectures completed with exercises (analysis of the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation by Ricardo).

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Blaug, M. (1995), La pensée économique. 9ième éd. Paris, Economica

Schumpeter, J.A. (1954, ed. 1994), History of Economic Analysis. London, Routledge.

Contacts

See "annuaire du personnel" ULB

Method(s) of evaluation

• Other

Other

written examination at the end of the semester: one on the theory and the other on the exercise part (both are given the same day)

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

The theoretical part receives a weight of 2/3 whereas the exercise part receives the saldo. The exam is well balanced between knowledge (through "right-or-wrong" assertions), critical thinking (through open questions, comparisons to make, texts...) and more technical points (through exercices)