Abstract
Over time, Mark Blaug became increasingly sceptical of the merits of the approach to the history of economics that we find in his magnum opus, Economic theory in retrospect, first published in 1962, and increasingly leaned to favour 'historical' over 'rational' reconstructions. In this essay, I discuss Blaug's shifting historiographical position, and the changing terms of historiographical debate. I do so against the background of Blaug's personal life history and the increasingly beleaguered position the history of economic thought found itself in after the Second World War. I argue that Blaug never resolved the tensions between historical and rational reconstructions, partly because he never fleshed out a viable notion of historical reconstruction. I trace Blaug's difficulty in doing so to his firm conviction that the history of economics should speak to economists, a conviction clearly present in his 2001 essay: "No history of ideas, please, we're economists".
Highlights
Over time, Mark Blaug became increasingly sceptical of the merits of the approach to the history of economics that we find in his magnum opus, Economic theory in retrospect, first published in 1962, and increasingly leaned to favour ‘historical’ over ‘rational’ reconstructions
I will argue that Blaug never resolved the tensions between historical and rational reconstructions, partly because he never fleshed out a viable notion of historical reconstruction, and this despite his later leaning towards such an approach
Refined historical reading guides were followed abruptly by concepts and diagrams that were, if anything, rational, not historical, reconstructions. We find this same unevenness in his article on the historiography of economics of 1990
Summary
Blaug’s own history in economics started at Columbia University, where he wrote his PhD thesis on David Ricardo with George Stigler (and Terence Hutchison as second supervisor). He rented a small apartment at the back of the British Museum to read in the British Library on a daily basis. Despite Stigler’s position at the opposite end of the political spectrum (as a student, Blaug had communist sympathies) they got on very well They shared a love for books, not just as objects, but to read them cover to cover. Both had uncompromising high academic standards and they shared an interest in the history of the field, especially in the work of David Ricardo. The labels remained confusing and loaded with different connotations, bearing the marks of the different discourses they came from and we will see that Blaug never succeeded in clarifying them
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