School of Business, Santa Clara University
The purpose of this course is to understand the ideas of three of the principle creators of modern economics: Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and Alfred Marshall. In order to do so, we will read most of Smith's Wealth of Nations , most of Ricardo's Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, and a substantial part of Marshall's Principles of Economics.
Each book contains a fairly difficult structure of interrelated ideas. In reading such material, there is a serious risk of reading words while missing the ideas. To help protect against that, I will provide, for each author, a set of brief quotes. To check whether you are following the ideas, see if you understand what each quote means and why the author is saying it.
In the interests of truth in advertising, I should point out that most economics courses involve learning part of one structure of ideas; this one involves learning most of three. You are supposed to end up understanding Smith's ideas (and Ricardo's and Marshall's), not merely knowing things about them. You may find it useful to start out imagining that the year is 1790, The Wealth of Nations is the latest and best work on economics, and you are a graduate student preparing for your prelim exams.
Quotes to Understand: Smith
Class Lecture notes on Smith
Final Summary lecture on Smith
First Midterm (Smith) with Answers
Smith Homework Assignment
Quotes to Understand: Ricardo
Class Lecture notes on Ricardo
Second Midterm (Ricardo) with Answers
Final Summary Lecture on Ricardo
Quotes to Understand: Marshall
Class Lecture notes on Marshall
Final Summary
Lecture