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John Bates Clark: the first American marginalist as a social economist

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  • Luciano Messori
  • Raimondello Orsini

Abstract

We analyze the content of four articles by John Bates Clark published between 1878 and 1887, during his Christian Socialist period in order to show that next to the marginalist Clark and beyond the neoclassical principles outlined in The Distribution of Wealth, the whole Clark?s work is a strongly coherent body, deeply rooted in positions less extreme than the ones held by more reformer-minded economists like Richard T. Ely or John R. Commons containing an array of different contributions to political economy displaying a certain originality and coherence, and enrolling in a thematic environment that today would be broadly defined as social economy. In particular, the main ideas emerging from this selection of papers are his organismic idea of society, the role of moral forces in shaping economic activity, and his promotion of profit sharing and cooperation as better regimes for production and distribution with respect to competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Luciano Messori & Raimondello Orsini, 2018. "John Bates Clark: the first American marginalist as a social economist," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(2), pages 33-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:fan:spespe:v:html10.3280/spe2018-002002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John F. Henry, 1982. "The Transformation of John Bates Clark: an Essay in Interpretation," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 166-177, Summer.
    2. Thomas C. Leonard, 2003. "“A Certain Rude Honesty”: John Bates Clark as a Pioneering Neoclassical Economist," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 35(3), pages 521-558, Fall.
    3. Joseph Persky, 2000. "The Neoclassical Advent: American Economics at the Dawn of the 20th Century," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 95-108, Winter.
    4. Thorstein Veblen, 1908. "On the Nature of Capital: Investment, Intangible Assets, and the Pecuniary Magnate," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 23(1), pages 104-136.
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    1. Luciano Messori & Raimondello Orsini, 2020. "John Bates Clark?s view on the Treaty of Versailles as the origin of both World War II and the idea of a European Union," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 9(1), pages 131-150.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B13 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Neoclassical through 1925 (Austrian, Marshallian, Walrasian, Wicksellian)
    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values

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