The first serious optimist : A. C. Pigou and the birth of welfare economics / Ian Kumekawa.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kumekawa, Ian, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pigou, A. C. (Arthur Cecil), 1877-1959.

Pigou, A. C.

Economics--History.

Economics.

Welfare economics.

Economists--Great Britain.

Economists.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 332 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A groundbreaking intellectual biography of one of the twentieth century's most influential economistsThe First Serious Optimist is an intellectual biography of the British economist A. C. Pigou (1877-1959), a founder of welfare economics and one of the twentieth century's most important and original thinkers. Though long overshadowed by his intellectual rival John Maynard Keynes, Pigou was instrumental in focusing economics on the public welfare. And his reputation is experiencing a renaissance today, in part because his idea of "externalities" or spillover costs is the basis of carbon taxes. Drawing from a wealth of archival sources, Ian Kumekawa tells how Pigou reshaped the way the public thinks about the economic role of government and the way economists think about the public good.Setting Pigou's ideas in their personal, political, social, and ethical context, the book follows him as he evolved from a liberal Edwardian bon vivant to a reserved but reform-minded economics professor. With World War I, Pigou entered government service, but soon became disenchanted with the state he encountered. As his ideas were challenged in the interwar period, he found himself increasingly alienated from his profession. But with the rise of the Labour Party following World War II, the elderly Pigou re-embraced a mind-set that inspired a colleague to describe him as "the first serious optimist."The story not just of Pigou but also of twentieth-century economics, The First Serious Optimist explores the biographical and historical origins of some of the most important economic ideas of the past hundred years. It is a timely reminder of the ethical roots of economics and the discipline's long history as an active intermediary between the state and the market.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction. History and Economics

Chapter 1. Beginnings

Chapter 2. Ethics, Politics, and Science

Chapter 3. Bearing Fruit as Well as Light

Chapter 4. War, Peace, and Disillusionment

Chapter 5. Retreat to the Ivory Tower

Chapter 6. Paradigms Lost

Chapter 7. Another War and a Fresh Start

Chapter 8. To "Really Do a Little Good"

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

9781400885206

OCLC:

985364790