History of Economic Thought

This course covers the history of modern (20th century) economics and economic thinking from the marginal revolution through the first half of the 20th century. The aim will be to develop an understanding of the origin and evolution of central concepts in economic theory, including subjective utility, marginal analysis, competitive markets, examine methodological disputes over positivism and formalism, and the development of general competitive equilibrium. We will consider the emergence of certain subfields in modern economics, and end with a discussion of the relevance of these ideas for economics in the 21st century.