2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Wealth and Population in Classical Political Economy: An Intellectual Approach
| Project/Area Number |
12630013
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
経済理論
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| Research Institution | Tokyo Metropolitan University |
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Principal Investigator |
FUKAGAI Yasunori Tokyo Metropolitan University Faculty of Economics, Professor, 経済学部, 教授 (00165242)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
WAKAMORI Midori Tokyo Metropolitan University Faculty of Economics, Lecturer, 経済学部, 講師 (20347264)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2000 – 2002
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| Keywords | wealth / population / history of civilization / emulation / pauperism / Hume / Townsend / Malthus |
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| Research Abstract |
The economic discourses since Mandeville and DeFoe put the special emphasis on the topics of the emulation and pauperism. Mandeville and Hume focused on the dynamic character of economy which was oriented by luxury, vanity and fashion. However, besides Both of Mandeville and DeFoe were critical to the poor laws and settlement acts, Smith regarded emulation as the cause of over-working, and criticized the settlement acts because it obstructs the smooth move of the laborer to the job opportunity.
In contrast to Hume and Smith who characterized the effect of commercial society positively, the new trend emerged in early 1780s that treated it negatively. McFarlen clarified that the spread of luxury under the civilization causes the diversity of the distribution of wealth, and pointed out that it was the real cause of the poverty in lower ranks. Townsend utilized the historical view of the civilization in order to show the possible proper balance between the wealth and the population. According to Townsend, the poor law causes the over-population with accompanied the poverty. Malthus developed the critical argument of poverty in the style of population theory.
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