Scattered across several folders in the Paul Samuelson Papers at Duke are course materials from the graduate history of economic course regularly offered by Samuelson in the 1970s. Not included below are a few class lecture handouts and class lists also in the folders. Instead I have just transcribed the suggested reading lists or Dewey library course reserve lists and two final exams found in the folders.
I did not take this course, once having sat in on a Marxian economics lecture that consisted of Paul Samuelson commenting on his textbook’s appendix “Rudiments of Marxian Economics”. Perhaps the arrogance of my youth got the better of me, but I thought there were other courses that were going to teach me something that I had not already learned so I am now condemned to trying to reconstruct his course content from such scraps as these we find in his archival record. Maybe a visitor to this page of Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has saved notes from the course?
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14.132 FALL 1973
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
P. SAMUELSON
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. FOR BACKGROUND
T. Kuhn
THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
and parts or all of any sample of secondary sources, such as those by Roll, Gray, Gide-Rist, brief Schumpeter (1912), Heilbroner.
FOR BIOGRAPHY
Keynes
ESSAYS IN BIOGRAPHY
Schumpeter
TEN ECONOMISTS
H. Spiegel
GREAT ECONOMISTS ON GREAT ECONOMISTS
2. BASIC BACKGROUND REFERENCE
Perhaps the basic background reference is the posthumous, uneven classic:
J. S. Schumpeter
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
A valuable, MIT-graduate-school kind of reference is
Marc Blaug
ECONOMIC THEORY IN RETROSPECT
3. ON RICARDO, you should at least sample
Sraffa edition
PRINCIPLES
Useful readings are:
Blaug
Baumol
ch 2 in ECONOMIC DYNAMICS
Stigler in
HISTORY OF ECONOMICS
Sraffa
his introduction to the PRINCIPLES
Kaldor
his brief section in 1954 RES “Alternative Theories of Distribution”
Models of Ricardo-like systems
Pasinetti
Samuelson
Edelberg
Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Fall 1973”.
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14.132 FALL 1974
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
P. SAMUELSON E 52-394
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. FOR BACKGROUND
T. Kuhn
THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
and parts or all of any sample of secondary sources, such as those by Roll, Gray, Gide-Rist, brief Schumpeter (1912), Heilbroner, Cannan, Recktenwald’s POLITICAL ECONOMY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
FOR BIOGRAPHY
Keynes
ESSAYS IN BIOGRAPHY
Schumpeter
TEN ECONOMISTS
H. Spiegel
GREAT ECONOMISTS ON GREAT ECONOMISTS
2. BASIC BACKGROUND REFERENCE
Perhaps the basic background reference is the posthumous, uneven classic:
J. S. Schumpeter
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
A valuable, MIT-graduate-school kind of reference is
Marc Blaug
ECONOMIC THEORY IN RETROSPECT
3. First Topic of land and the interest rate: Turgot, Böhm-Bawerk and Keynes-Modigliani
Böhm-Bawerk, Vol I, Ch. 4
„Land and the Rate of Interest“: also Samuelson (1958, 1968, 1974)
Modigliani (1954, 1974)
Diamond (1965)
Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Fall 1973”.
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14.132 Fall 1975
STORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
P. A. SAMUELSON E52-394
FRIDAY 1:30-3:30
SUGGESTED READINGS
1. FOR BACKGROUND
Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolution
and parts or all of any sample of secondary sources, such as those by Roll, Gray, Gide-Rist, brief Schupeter (1912), Heilbroner, Cannan’s Review of Economic Theory, Recktenwald’s Political Economy: A Historical Perspective.
FOR BIOGRAPHY
Keynes, Essays in Biography
Schumpeter, Ten Economists
H. Spiegel, Great Economists on Great Economists [not in Dewey Library]
2. BASIC BACKGROUND REFERENCE
Perhaps the basic background reference is the posthumous, uneven classic:
J. A. Schumpeter, History of Economic Analysis
A valuable, MIT-graduate-school kind of reference is
Mark Blaug, Economic Theory in Retrospect
For fruits of Marx’s hours in the British Museum, see
K. Marx, Theories of Surplus Value (many volumes, and sometimes called Vol. IV of Das Kapital)
Readable and scholarly essays are collected in
G. J. Stigler, Essays in the History of Economics
3. First topic of Quesnay’s Tableau Economique:
Any text like Gray, Peter Newman, Roll, Schumpeter;
Meek on Physiocracy, and edited volume;
A. Phillips, QJE, 1955;
S. Maital, QJE, 1972.
4. Topic of land and the interest rate: Turgot, Böhm-Bawerk and Keynes-Modigliani
Böhm-Bawerk, Vol I, Ch. 4, “Land and the Rate of Interest,” also,
Samuelson (1958, 1968, 1974)
Modigliani (1954, 1974)
Diamond (1965)
5. Modern model of Ricardo
6. Transformation problem of Marx
7. Smith, Adam
8. ….
Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Fall 1975”.
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Samuelson
To be placed on reserve for 14.132
Mass. Inst. Tech.
FEB 14 1977
DEWEY RESERVE
McLellan. Karl Marx: His Life and Thought
Luxemburg. Accumulation of Capital
Sweezy. Theory of Capitalist Development
Robinson. An Essay on Marxian Economics
Dobbs. History of Theories of Distribution [sic, Theories of Value and Distribution since Adam Smith: Ideology and Economic Theory]
Morishima. On Marxian Economics [sic, Marx’s Economics]
Schumpeter. History of Economic Analysis
Roll. History of Economic Thought
Alexander Gray. The Development of Economic Doctrine
[Metzler Lloyd] Festschrift. (Trade, Stability and Macroeconomics) edited by G. Horowitz and P. Samuelson.
Reprints
Samuelson
Samuelson’s “Reply on Marxian Matters”
Insight and Detour in the Theory of Exploitation: A Reply to Baumol
Understanding the Marxian Notion of Exploitation: A Summary of the So-Called Transformation Problem Between Marxian Values and Competitive Prices
Marx as a Mathematical Economist
Journals
Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 2, 1934-35
American Economic Review, March 1938.
[Appendix: Rudiments of Marxian Economics (from Samuelson Economics, pp. 858-)]
Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Spring 1977”.
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14.132 Final Exam
History of Economic Thought
P. A. Samuelson
May 20, 1977
ANSWER (1) OR (2) QUESTIONS.
- Describe any aspects of the classical economists’ system that primarily interests you.
- Describe the doctrines of some one historical economist or school in which you have an interest.
- Analyze any aspects of Marxian economics that you think are of relevance to economic history and policy.
Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Spring 1977”.
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Reserve List, MIT Libraries
14.132 History of Economic Thought
Spring 1978
D. L. Thomson, Adam Smith’s Daughters, Exposition Press, 1973.
L. Robbins. An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science. Macmillan, 1935 and 1962.
M. Blaug, Economic Theory in Retrospect. Richard D. Irwin, 1962.
I. H. Rima. Development of Economic Analysis. Irwin, 1972.
H. W. Spiegel,The Growth of Economic Thought. Prentice-Hall, 1971.
Alexander Gray, Development of Economic Doctrines. Longman, Green and Co. 1934.
T. W. Hutchinson, A Review of Economic Doctrines, 1870-1929. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1953.
Thomas Sowell, Classical Economics Reconsidered, Princeton U. Press, 1974.
Eric Roll, A History of Economic Thought. Faber and Faber, 1973.
Eric Roll, The World After Keynes, Praeger, 1968.
J. A. Schumpeter, History of Economic Analysis. Oxford U. Press, 1954.
G. L. S. Shackle. The Nature of Economic Thought. Cambridge U Press, 1966.
J. A. Schumpeter, Ten Great Economists. Oxford, 1965.
R. L. Meek. Precursors of Adam Smith. Dear (London), 1973.
Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Spring 1978”.
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14.132 Take-Home Exam
Spring 1978
Answer any one of these questions or any two or all three.
- Describe some topic covered in this course that you find to be of interest. Discuss its broad significance; or concentrate in depth on any aspect of the problem that you believe to be worth exploring. Do not hesitate to let your imagination soar.
- Describe some aspect or aspects of what we call neoclassical economics. If you wish, compare and contrast it with earlier classical economics; or with later Keynesian economics; or with the Marx-inspired economics that developed around the same time.
- Thomas Kuhn attempted to throw light on how the natural sciences tend to develop. If any part of his paradigms seems to you useful in any part of the history of economic thought, describe the use. If you have criticisms to make of the Kuhnian methodology, feel free to enlarge on them.
Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Spring 1977”.
Image Source: Capture of the photos page from the Paul Samuelson memorial webpages at the MIT economics department (date of Wayback Machine capture May 22, 2011)