Zadok Paper S98 Autumn 1999
Christian Theology and Economics: a Reading Guide
by Paul Oslington

The history and philosophy of economics

IN ORDER TO BETTER understand economic theory and policy debates, reading in the following areas is essential. General works on the history of economic thought in increasing order of difficulty are Robert Heilbroner's The Worldly Philosophers,66 Ernesto Screpanti and Stefano Zemagni's Outline of the History of Economic Thought, 68 Mark Blaug's Great Economists Before Keynes, Great Economists Since Keynes and Economic Theory in Retrospect,69 and the History of Economic Analysis60 by Joseph Schumpeter.

Reading portions of the classics certainly repays the effort. I would suggest portions of Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,61 Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population,62 Marx's Capital, 63 Alfred Marshall's Principles of Economics, 64 or John Maynard Keynes' General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.65

Mark Blaug provides readers guides66 to each of the above works. For additional material on Adam Smith, see Jacob Viner,66 D. D. Raphael's biography,68 and Jeffrey Young's Economics as a Moral Science.69 Malthus is discussed by Donald Winch,80 Anthony Waterman81 and John Pullen.82

From the libraries of literature on Marx's economics, I would suggest Michael Howard and John King's A History of Marxian Economics83 and Leszek Kolakowski's Main Currents of Marxism.84 Alfred Marshall is dealt with in Peter Groenewegen's A Soaring Eagle,84 and Keynes by Robert Skidelsky86 and Rod O'Donnell.86

There has been intense debate over economic method in 20th century economics. Some readable discussions are: Daniel Hausman's The Separate and Inexact Science of Economics,88 who emphasises the distinctiveness of the methodological problems faced by economists; Bruce Caldwell's Beyond Positivism,89 which advocates methodological pluralism; Mark Blaug's The Methodology of Economics,90 which vigorously argues for a falsificationist method adapted from the physical sciences; and Donald McCloskey's writings on "The Rhetoric of Economics",91 where he focuses on the economists' means of persuasion.

Some interesting discussion of the contemporary economics profession may be found in George Stigler's essays on The Economist as Preacher,92 A.W. Coats' On the Sociology and Professionalisation of Economics,93 and Coats and David Colander's, The Spread of Economic Ideas.94 Robert Frank, Thomas Gilovich and Denis Regan, using surveys and observation of the behaviour of economists, asked "Does Studying Economics Inhibit Cooperation?" in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.95 They argued that studying economics makes people less trusting and cooperative, among other things. In other words: economists tend to adopt the individualistic maximising model they use in their professional work in their own dealings with others. A lively debate followed in subsequent issues of the journal.

To: Theology and economics

Paul Oslington has been lecturer in economics at Deakin University Geelong since January 1998, after completing a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Sydney on the relationship between trade and unemployment, and a Bachelor of Divinity from Melbourne College of Divinity. Comments and suggestions on the guide are welcome and he can be contacted at School of Economics, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia 3217. E-mail: osling@deakin.edu.au