Alfred Marshall
The Marshall Society is one of the oldest and most prestigious societies in Cambridge. It was established in 1927 after the name of Sir Alfred Marshall and has since then maintained the tradition of its distinguished founders in promoting discussion in the 'Dismal Science'. Other members have included John Maynard Keynes, Nicholas Kaldor and Joan Robinson.
Our interest lies in bringing together all young fellow economists in Cambridge and furthering their interest in Economics by inviting speakers, organizing seminars and events, and engaging in rigorous discussion on contemporary issues.
The Marshall Society's journal, The Cambridge Economist, is published annually and contains contributions from Cambridge scholars and economists, in addition to articles by current students of the university. Past issues have included interviews with prominent economists such as David Card, John Kay, and Gregory Mankiw.
Alfred Marshall
Alfred Marshall (1842–1924) was the founder of our Tripos (in 1902) and a major figure responsible for the professionalisation of economics. He was, first and foremost, a brilliant and original theorist; but he also passionately believed that economics should contribute to human well-being and that economics students should know as much about the economic and social facts of the real world as the theoretical approaches through which they could be organised and understood.
Many of the tools we use today originated with Marshall - partial equilibrium analysis, supply and demand curves, the concepts of elasticity, consumers' and producers' surplus, the device of splitting time into market, short and long periods - all of these and much else come to us from Marshall, mainly through his famous Principles. The book was first published in 1890 and it went through eight editions in his lifetime.
His insights into theory and his sound philosophy combined still have much to commend themselves to us, his pupils at Cambridge.