B2 - History of Economic Thought since 1925Return

The aim of the paper is twofold: to point out important milestones in the development of the relationship between ethics and economics, and to present some examples of approaches aiming at re-integrating disciplines often perceived as antagonistic. There is, however, a wide variety of concepts and views trying to bring both disciplines closer, and the paper gives the reader a taste of different points of view, especially those less known and not mirrored in the Czech economic literature. The author is of the view that these concepts could inspire reflections on and efforts to tackle economic and societal problems that are becoming increasingly complex and interdisciplinary. Despite many calls to develop holistic approaches to knowledge acquisition and dealing with complexity in the contemporary world, we are witnessing continuous specialization of individual scientific disciplines, including the detachment of economics and ethics.

This paper aims to commemorate Albín Bráf and Josef Macek as the key figures in the history of Czech economic thinking. It focuses on three topics which their theoretical works had in common: firstly, the methodology of economics and its assesment as a social science, secondly, the solutions to social questions within the framework of economic policies and, thirdly, the significance of economic education and popularization of economics. The objective of the study is to detect continuity in Czech economic thinking and open a discusion on its posibilities within both the Communist and post-Communist period.

The paper presents the evolution of the role of land in the economic thought. Land is a rare space for location of producing activities, living and others. The article points out main ideas and approaches from the very beginning of economic literature till nowadays, having used many citations of the authors. The main concern in the article is given to the land rent. The terms of differential rent, monopoly rent or bid rent and bid price curves are explained. Models of monocentric city by Thünen and Alonso are described in details.

The paper presents the evolution of the natural monopoly term in the economic literature. Using the citations of the authors the article shows various approaches to the natural monopoly concept from the very beginning till nowadays. The definition of natural monopoly has been changing over time and even today there is not the only one view used widespread.

The paper is concerned with macroeconomic aspects of fertility. Second section starts by outlining the role of population in the history of economic thought, and continues by examining the theory of demographic transition. The fourth section explores the relation between population and economic growth, distinguishing theoretical approaches and empirical research. The fifth section examines the relation between the birth rate and death rate. The sixth section makes insights into the interdependence of fertility and business cycles. The seventh section takes the fiscal effects of population development into account.