Who is alfred marshall
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Alfred Marshall
(1842–1924)
British economist, regarded as one of the founders of the neoclassical school in economics.
Marshall was born in London and graduated in mathematics from St John's College, Cambridge. He began lecturing in moral science at Cambridge in 1868. In 1882 he took the chair of political economy at Bristol and was the first principal of University College, Bristol. In 1885 he became professor at Cambridge University, retiring in 1908.
Marshall's influence on microeconomics was profound, both in teaching and policy-making. He developed downward-sloping demand curves from marginal utility theory and upward-sloping supply curves (higher prices leading to greater output), at the intersection of which equilibrium prices are determined. He coined the term ‘elasticity’ to denote responsiveness of demand or supply to small changes in price, and introduced the concepts of consumer surplus, quasi-rent, and external economies. Marshall described the time periods over which consumption and production decisions can change: (1) very short run, when supply is fixed and pr
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Alfred Marshall, 1842-1924
Prominent English economist, one of the leading propagators of Neoclassical economics, founder of the "Cambridge" school of Neoclassicism and author of its most successful textbook, Principles of Economics (1890).
Early years
Alfred Marshall was born in London, of modest bourgeois background, the second son of William Marshall, a clerk at the Bank of England. He was educated at Merchant Taylors, a non-residential private school, and acquired a school record of some distinction, demonstrating a strong early aptitude and skill for mathematics. With the financial backing of an uncle, Marshall enrolled in St. John's College at Cambridge University in 1862, in order to pursue the Mathematical Tripos. He ended up achieving "second wrangler" (second highest score in Cambridge's mathematics exam) in 1865. After a short stint as a substitute teacher in Bristol, Marshall was elected a fellow of St John's at the end of 1865. Marshall would spend the next few years as a tutor, and was finall
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Alfred Marshall was the dominant figure in British economics (itself dominant in world economics) from about 1890 until his death in 1924. His specialty was microeconomics—the study of individual markets and industries, as opposed to the study of the whole economy. In his most important book, Principles of Economics, Marshall emphasized that the price and output of a good are determined by both supply and demand: the two curves are like scissor blades that intersect at equilibrium. Modern economists trying to understand why the price of a good changes still start by looking for factors that may have shifted demand or supply, an approach they owe to Marshall.
To Marshall also goes credit for the concept of price elasticity of demand, which quantifies buyers’ sensitivity to price (see demand).
The concept of consumer surplus is another of Marshall’s contributions. He noted that the price is typically the same for each unit of a commodity that a consumer buys, but the value to the consumer of each additional unit declines. A consumer will buy units up to the poi
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