The Institutionalists and on the Origin of Species: A Case of Mistaken Identity

In 1898, when Thorstein Veblen raised the issue of why economics is not an evolutionary science, he sparked a controversy among US academic economists that remains today as a basis for criticism against economic orthodoxy. The critics have been loosely identified under the label of institutional eco...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Southern economic journal 1986-04, Vol.52 (4), p.1043-1055
Main Author: Jones, Lamar B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biology
Classical economics
Darwinism
Economic theory
Economists
Evolution
Evolutionary economics
Influence
Institutionalism
Microeconomics
Mistaken identity
Natural selection
Neoclassical economics
Political economy
Science
Society
Taxonomy
Writers
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Summary:In 1898, when Thorstein Veblen raised the issue of why economics is not an evolutionary science, he sparked a controversy among US academic economists that remains today as a basis for criticism against economic orthodoxy. The critics have been loosely identified under the label of institutional economists. Veblenian institutionalists placed a great deal of reliance upon the work of Charles Darwin. This reliance can be traced through Veblen and one of his major disciples, C. E. Ayres. However, the Veblenian institutionalism rests upon a seriously flawed understanding of the roots of Darwinian methodology. Support for this argument rests on a recent body of literature that may be characterized as the ''orgin of The Origin of Species.'' Biologists and historians of science have, over the past few years, penetratingly studied Darwin's intellectual links to political economy. The new literature has greatly expanded the largely unknown influence of classical economics on the development of evolutionary biology.
ISSN:0038-4038
2325-8012
DOI:10.2307/1059163