Biography of an Economist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biography of an Economist - Essay Example Details and specifics of his line of thought are given in the following segment. The text is finally rounded off with conclusions and comments about the scholar that Marshall was. Alfred Marshall was the foremost economist in England of his times. He was fussy at times, which distanced some of his contemporaries. However, the mantle of leading the newly emerging field of economics fell on none other than him. As Wood (2004, p. 220) states, Marshall saw Economics in the light of human behavior which was measurable in terms of money. This was a paradigm shift in the emphasis of the field away from market economics. He was of the opinion that people craved more for perfection and acknowledgement from others rather than for material gains. He gave importance to the standard of life than the standard of living. Towards this end, he felt that the government should guide whereas the employer should lead. Only then would there be an end to the deep-rooted poverty. He followed a deductive method of theorizing based on observation. It could be argued that he tried to boost the image of this discipline in the eyes of the common man by stretching too far the maturity and continuity of Economics. He established the Cambridge School which was succeeded by luminaries like Keynes and Pigou. He used illustrations to teach economic concepts, which was then taken forward worldwide. More than a teacher, he has been immortalized for his works that have enriched and broadened the horizons of Economics. Marshall hailed from London (born in 1824) and showed an inclination for Mathematics in his childhood. He started his higher education in philosophy but ended up in the newly formed discipline viz. Economics. His forte was Political Economy. He married one of his students Mary Paley, with whom he co-authored The Economics of Industry (1879). He was Principal and Professor of Political Economy at Bristol. He shifted to Oxford and later to