Theories of Capitalism I

Undergraduate / Graduate

The Theories of Capitalism sequence introduces students to classic texts in the history of economic thought. Across the sequence, we examine diverse accounts of the forces that govern capitalist societies and the distinctive problems that emerge within them. As we do this, we also look closely at how the economists who developed these theories demarcated the economic domain of human life and we consider how their efforts to understand it were shaped by a rich body of intellectual resources. Theories of Capitalism I focuses on the theoretical and practical concerns that animated economic writing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Among these are questions about the origins of wealth and value, the effect of machines on the production process, the role of the state in economic life, and the condition and fate of the working class. Readings may include texts by Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, John Stuart Mill, and Carl Menger. Formerly Early Theories of Capitalism.