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Why William Paley was the first of the Cambridge economists
St John's College Winnipeg R3T 2M5, Canada
Abstract
Keynes suggested that Paley was the first of the Cambridge economists because of chapter XI in Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785), which contains an analysis of the general interdependence of provisions and luxury goods. After describing the intellectual content of Paley's political economy, the article presents a two-sector, macroeconomic model which captures the analytical content of chapter XI. The model is then used to explain why Paley's work was so important for Malthus and so interesting to Keynes; and why it should have been ignored by all writers in the classical tradition ever since.
Manuscript received May 12, 1995; final version received October 30, 1995.