ECONOMICS 380

HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT

FROM 1870

 

First Midterm

February 6, 2006

45 minutes

 

Answer one of the following three questions for 100 marks in roughly 250 words:

 

1. The history of economic thought involves use of a number of historical and philosophical concepts including:

Absolutism vs. Relativism

Falsifiability

Historical vs. Rational Reconstruction

Paradigm

Define each term or set of terms @ 12.5% each and briefly explain @ 12.5% each.

 

2. What was the nature of the Marginalist Revolution and what were some of its causes? (I am looking for at least 5 of both @ 10 marks each plus examples and brief explanation @10 marks each.)

 

3. Those who opposed the Marginalist Revolution did not use theoretical assumptions of scarcity and hedonism to organize economic thought.  Alternative concepts included:

Empiricism

Teleology

Transcendence

Define each term @ 16.6% each and associate these concepts to specific economists or schools of thought then briefly explain each @ 16.6% each.