Author: J. R. McCulloch

Publisher:

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 4000

ISBN-13: 9780415113526

Like two great fellow-Scotsmen before him, David Hume and Adam Smith, John Ramsay McCulloch was a man who came to excel in many fields. More of a philosopher and less of a theoretician than the other two, he made up for this with great practical abilities, and was indeed, the first economist to earn his living by teaching and writing. He was one of the first professional teachers of economics and was appointed the first professor of political economy at London University. He was a distinguished editor of the Scotsman for a number of years, but his chief claim to journalistic fame lies in the many reviews he contributed to the Edinburgh Review from 1818 to 1837. In this long period, he preached the Ricardian doctrine with almost fanatical discipleship and did much to bring about the victory of the Ricardian view on his contemporaries. McCulloch's work on the general problems of economic theory and policy is that by which he is largely remembered today. Traditionally regarded as the most loyal and dogmatic of Ricardo's followers, recent examination of his writings has shown more clearly the Smithian flavour of many of his views, and the shifts in his opinions as he grew older.