Introdution to Economics
The lecture introduces into political economy in terms of a discussion of some of its main problems and the contributions of some of its main authors. The problems dealt with are those of production, value and distribution, and of economic growth and development. The authors and concepts referred to are, among others: François Quesnay and the Physiocrats with the Tableau économique reformulated as an input-output system. Adam Smith, the division of labour and the sources of the growth of the wealth of a nation. David Ricardo, the principles of extensive and intensive diminishing returns in the theory of rent and profits and the principle of comparative advantage in trade theory. Hermann Heinrich Gossen, the principle of marginal utility and "Gossen's laws". The concepts of a pure exchange economy and of Pareto optimality; their analysis in terms of the Edgeworth box. John Maynard Keynes, "Say's law" and the principle of effective demand.
For more details see EVWL and UNIGRAZonline.