Caryle, Malthus and Sismondi: The Origins of Carlyle’s Dismal View of Political Economy

Robert Dixon

No 965, Department of Economics - Working Papers Series from The University of Melbourne

Abstract: While it is correct to say that Carlyle first applied the exact phrase “dismal science” to political economy in his 1849 article on plantation labour in the West Indies, I argue that Carlyle came to the view that political economy was “dismal” well before that time. Indeed, his negative attitude can be seen quite clearly in his earlier published reactions to the writings of Malthus (and Sismondi, amongst others) on population growth and its consequences and also to the perceived ‘materialistic’ nature of the subject matter of political economy.

Pages: 11 pages
Date: 2006
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe and nep-pol
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