The Origin of the Term "Dismal Science" to Describe Economics

Robert Dixon

No 715, Department of Economics - Working Papers Series from The University of Melbourne

Abstract: Generations of students and the reading public have been taught: (a) that it was Thomas Carlyle who called economics (political economy as it was known) "the dismal science" and (b) that he did so as a reaction to the pessimistic predictions of Malthus in relation to population growth and its consequences. I shall demonstrate that proposition (a) is true but proposition (b) is, strictly speaking, false. I shall also demonstrate that Carlye first used the term in the context of a debate which was unrelated to Malthus's writings on population (indeed unrelated to Malthus at all) and that the specific context is not only interesting but also uplifting. For both reasons, the origin of the term "dismal science" is worth exploring with students. In addition, in an Appendix I provide information on the origin and original meaning of the term 'Captain(s) of Industry'. This is another of Carlyle's inventions.

Keywords: ECONOMICS; ECONOMIC HISTORY (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 9 pages
Date: 1999
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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