Henry Dunning Macleod

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Henry Dunning Macleod (born March 31, 1821 in Edinburgh , † July 16, 1902 ) was a Scottish economist .

life and work

Italian translation of Elements of political economy , 1877

His parents Roderick Macleod (1786–1863) and Isabella Cunninghame were the owners of Invergordon Castle, in Ross and Cromarty , which is sometimes given as the birthplace of the youngest son of five children, Henry Dunning. Macleod grew up in Edinburgh , trained at Eton and Trinity College , Cambridge and worked as a barrister . In 1853 he became director of the Royal British Bank . Because he had to write reports for the bank, he began digging deeper into the theory of credit. Between 1855 and 1896 he wrote numerous books. The Dictionary of political economy (1863) remained unfinished.

While most contemporary representatives of classical economics saw money as a neutral medium of exchange , he was one of the first advocates of a credit theory , according to which money creation could mobilize underutilized resources ( e.g. underemployment ). Credit should be viewed as an independent capital alongside money. Therefore, he rejected the description of the economy in terms of general equilibrium theory . His monetary and financial theories were little recognized during his lifetime. The reasons given for not being able to realize his dream of a university professorship are the scandal surrounding the collapse of the Royal Scottish Bank, but also the rejection of the labor value theory that was widespread in Great Britain at the time and that goes back to Mill , Ricardo and Smith . Instead, he advocated a value theory based on individual utility . In the 20th century his ideas were taken up again with the theory of endogenous money creation.

Macleod coined the term " Gresham's Law ".

reception

Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883–1950) wrote about him: “The first - if not entirely successful - attempt to develop a systematic theory that does justice to the facts of bank credit received little attention, which is also hardly described as benevolent can. [...] Macleod was an economist who had earned a lot of merit, but for some reason was not recognized and not taken seriously because he was unable to bring his numerous good ideas into a professionally acceptable form. ”Also Horace White criticized in 1890 that his book The Theory of Credit was suggestive rather than scientific.

John Rogers Commons (1862-1945), an early representative of institutional economics , invoked Macleod and called him the founder of this trend.

Publications (selection)

  • The Results of the Operation of the Poorhouse System in Ross , 1851
  • The Theory and Practice of Banking; with the elementary principles of currency, prices, credit and exchanges , 2 volumes (1855-1856).
  • The Elements of Political Economy , 1858.
  • On the Definition and Nature of the Science of Political Economy , 1862.
  • A Dictionary of Political Economy: Biographical, bibliographical, historical and present - Volume 1 (A – C) , 1863 (unfinished)
  • The Principles of Economical Philosophy , 2 volumes, 1872–1875.
  • The Elements of Banking , 1876.
  • Economics for Beginners , 1878.
  • Elements of Economics , 2 volumes, 1881–1886.
  • The Theory of Credit , 2 volumes, 1889-1894.
  • Bimetallism , 1894.
  • Gresham's Law , 1895.
  • Bimetallism in France , 1895.
  • A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations , 2 volumes, 1896.

Footnotes

  1. ^ A b S. E. Fryer, revised by John Maloney: Macleod, Henry Dunning (1821-1902) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, doi: 10.1093 / ref: odnb / 34787 .
  2. ↑ MACLEOD, Roderick (1786-1853), of Cadboll and Invergordon Castle, Ross and Cromarty . In: DR Fisher (ed.): The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820–1832 , Cambridge University Press, 2009.
  3. ^ John Maloney: The Professionalization of Economics: Alfred Marshall and the Dominance of Orthodoxy . Chapter 6: Two economic outsiders: Macleod and Crozier . Transaction Publishers 1991.
  4. ^ Neil T. Skaggs: Henry Dunning Macleod and the Credit Theory of Money . In: Avi Cohen, Harald Hagemann , John Smithin: Money, Financial Institutions and Macroeconomics . Springer Science & Business Media, 2012, p. 110.
  5. ^ A b c Neil T. Skaggs: HD Macleod and the Origins of the Theory of Finance in Economic Development . In: History of Political Economy 35 (3), 2003, pp. 361-384, doi: 10.1215 / 00182702-35-3-361 .
  6. ^ A b Joseph Alois Schumpeter : History of economic analysis , Volume II, p. 1354. Quoted from: S. Herbert Frankel: Die Ideologie des Nineteenth Century . Chapter 4 in: Money: The Philosophy and Psychology of Money . Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 1979, doi: 10.1007 / 978-3-322-93795-7 4 .
  7. ^ A b c d Murray Newton Rothbard : An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought , Volume 2, Chapter 14.7: The Scottish maverick: Henry Dunning Macleod . Pp. 461-463.
  8. ^ Reforming Britain's banks: Training day . In: The Economist , June 22, 2013.
  9. ↑ James Taylor: Company Fraud in Victorian Britain: The Royal British Bank Scandal of 1856 . In: The English Historical Review 122 (497), June 2007, pp. 700-724, JSTOR 4493899 .
  10. ^ Henry Dunning Macleod, 1821-1902 . In: Gonçalo L. Fonseca (ed.): History of Economic Thought Website.
  11. ^ Victoria Chick: Lost and Found: Some History of Endogenous Money in the Twentieth Century . In: G. Fontana, R. Realfonzo (Eds.): The Monetary Theory of Production . Palgrave Macmillan, London 2005, doi: 10.1057 / 9780230523074 4 .
  12. ↑ Gracjan Robert Bachurewicz: The Post-Keynesian endogenous money-supply: evidence from Poland . In: Review of Keynesian Economics , July 2019, pp. 402-418, doi: 10.4337 / roke.2019.03.09 .
  13. ↑ Horace White: Reviewed Work: The Theory of Credit. by Henry Dunning Macleod . In: Political Science Quarterly 5 (3), Sep. 1890, pp. 520-524, JSTOR 2139262 .
  14. ^ John Rogers Commons : Institutional Economics: Its Place in Political Economy . Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ 1990, ISBN 978-0-88738-797-5 , p. 399 .
personal data
SURNAME Macleod, Henry Dunning
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish economist
DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1821
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH July 16, 1902