Alfred Marshall (1842 - 1924) was a British economist and one of the most influential figures in the rise of neoclassical economics. His 1890 book Principles of Economics became the standard economics text in the English-speaking world for decades and helped establish the subject as a rigorous academic discipline. [1] As Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cambridge, he founded the Cambridge school of economics and trained a generation of economists. [2]
Early life and education
Alfred Marshall was born on 26 July 1842 in Bermondsey, London, the son of a cashier at the Bank of England. [1] He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and then entered St John's College at the University of Cambridge, where he studied mathematics and graduated as Second Wrangler in 1865. [1] Although trained as a mathematician, he was drawn successively toward metaphysics, ethics, and finally political economy, which he came to regard as a practical instrument for improving human welfare. [2]
Academic career
Marshall was elected a fellow of St John's College and began lecturing on economics at Cambridge. In 1877 he became the first principal of University College, Bristol, and he later taught at Balliol College, Oxford. [2] In 1885 he returned to Cambridge as Professor of Political Economy, a chair he held until 1908. There he campaigned to have economics recognised as an independent field of study, an effort that culminated in the creation of a separate Economics Tripos in 1903. [1]
Principles of Economics
Marshall's major work, Principles of Economics, appeared in 1890 and went through eight editions during his lifetime. [1] It defined the emerging neoclassical approach and remained the dominant textbook for many years. In it he refined tools that are still central to microeconomics, including supply and demand diagrams, the concept of price elasticity of demand, consumer surplus, and the distinction between short-run and long-run analysis. [3] He opened the work by describing economics as
Ideas and influence
Marshall argued that price is determined jointly by the forces of supply and demand, an idea often illustrated by the intersecting curves nicknamed the "Marshallian scissors." [3] He developed the method of partial equilibrium analysis, holding other factors constant to isolate the behaviour of a single market. Despite his mathematical background, he relegated equations and diagrams to footnotes and appendices, believing that economic reasoning should stay accessible and grounded in observable conditions. [2]
Legacy
Through his teaching and writing, Marshall shaped the outlook of successors such as Arthur Pigou, who inherited his Cambridge chair, and John Maynard Keynes. [2] A winner of the Adam Smith Prize and a Fellow of the British Academy, he is widely regarded as a principal architect of modern microeconomic theory. [1]
