John Elliott Cairnes (December 26, 1823 - July 8, 1875) was an Irish economist. He is often described as the "last of the classical economists". December 26 is the 360th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, 361st in leap years. ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 176 days remaining. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Paul Samuelson, Nobel Prize in Economics winner. ...

Cairnes was born at Castlebellingham, County Louth, Ireland. After leaving school, he spent some years in the counting-house of his father, a brewer. His tastes, however, lay altogether in the direction of study, and he was permitted to enter Trinity College, Dublin, where he took the degree of B.A. in 1848, and six years later that of M.A. After passing through the curriculum of Arts, he engaged in the study of Law, and was called to the Irish bar. But he felt no very strong inclination for the legal profession, and during some years he occupied himself to a large extent with contributions to the daily press, treating of the social and economical questions that affected Ireland. He devoted most attention to political economy, which he studied with great thoroughness and care. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Statistics Province: Leinster County Town: Dundalk Code: LH Area: 820 km² Population (2006) 110,894 Website: www. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... A 16th century brewer A 21st century brewer This article concerns the production of alcoholic beverages. ... Trinity College, Dublin, corporately designated as the Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, and is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, Irelands oldest university. ... It has been suggested that Professional degree be merged into this article or section. ... A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B.) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... A Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic masters degree awarded by universities in North America and the United Kingdom (excluding the ancient universities of Scotland and Oxbridge. ... A bar association is a professional body of lawyers who, in some jurisdictions, are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession. ... Face-to-face trading interactions among on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor Economics, may just involve more otriches than you think social science, studies the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities. ... Political economy was the original term for the study of production, the acts of buying and selling, and their relationships to laws, customs and government. ...

While residing in Dublin, he made the acquaintance of Archbishop Whately, who conceived a very high respect for Cairnes' character and abilities. In 1856, a vacancy occurred in the chair of political economy at Dublin founded by Whately, and Cairnes received the appointment. In accordance with the regulations of the foundation, the lectures of his first year’s course were published. The book appeared in 1857 with the title Character and Logical Method of Political Economy. It followed up on and expanded J. S. Mill's treatment in the Essays on some Unsettled Questions in Political Economy, and formed an admirable introduction to the study of economics as a science. In it the author’s peculiar powers of thought and expression are displayed to the best advantage. Logical exactness, precision of language, and firm grasp of the true nature of economic facts, are the qualities characteristic of this as of all his other works. If the book had done nothing more, it would still have conferred inestimable benefit on political economists by its clear exposition of the true nature and meaning of the ambiguous term law. To the view of the province and method of political economy expounded in this early work the author always remained true, and several of his later essays, such as those on Political Economy and Land, Political Economy and Laissez-Faire, are but reiterations of the same doctrine. His next contribution to economical science was a series of articles on the gold question, published partly in Fraser's Magazine, in which the probable consequences of the increased supply of gold attendant on the Australian and Californian gold discoveries were analysed with great skill and ability. And a critical article on M. Chevaliers' work, On the Probable Fall in the Value of Gold, appeared in the Edinburgh Review for July 1860. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... Richard Whately (February 1, 1787 - October 8, 1863), English logician and theological writer, archbishop of Dublin, was born in London. ... John Stuart Mill (May 20, 1806 – May 8, 1873), an English philosopher and political economist, was an influential liberal thinker of the 19th century. ... Frasers Magazine for Town and Country was a general and literary journal. ... The California Gold Rush (1848-1855) was the first world-class gold rush. ... The Edinburgh Review was one of the most influential British magazines of the 19th century. ...

In 1861, Cairnes was appointed to the professorship of jurisprudence and political economy in Queens College Galway, and in the following year he published his admirable work The Slave Power, one of the finest specimens of applied economical philosophy. The inherent disadvantages of the employment of slave labour were exposed with great fulness and ability, and the conclusions arrived at have taken their place among the recognized doctrines of political economy. The opinions expressed by Cairnes as to the probable issue of American Civil War were largely verified by the actual course of events, and the appearance of the book had a marked influence on the attitude taken by serious political thinkers in England towards the Confederate States of America. During the remainder of his residence at Galway, Professor Cairnes published nothing beyond some fragments and pamphlets, mainly upon Irish questions. The most valuable of these papers are the series devoted to the consideration of university education. His health, at no time very good, was still further weakened in 1865 by a fall from his horse. He was ever afterwards incapacitated from active exertion and was constantly liable to have his work interfered with by attacks of illness. In 1866 he was appointed professor of political economy in University College, London. He was compelled to spend the session 1868-1869 in Italy, but on his return continued to lecture till 1872. During his last session he conducted a mixed class, ladies being admitted to his lectures. His health soon rendered it impossible for him to discharge his public duties; he resigned his post in 1872, and retired with the honorary title of professor emeritus of political economy. In 1873 his own university conferred on him the degree of LL.D. He died at Blackheath, near London, on the 8 July 1875. A professor giving a lecture The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. ... The National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI, Galway) (Irish: Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh) can trace its existence to 1845 as Queens College, Galway and was known until recently as University College, Galway (UCG) and is located in Galway, Ireland. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Political economy was the original term for the study of production, the acts of buying and selling, and their relationships to laws, customs and government. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert Edward Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Motto: Deo Vindice (Latin: With God As Our Vindicator) Anthem: God Save the South (unofficial) Dixie (popular) The Bonnie Blue Flag (popular) Capital Montgomery, Alabama (February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia (May 29, 1861–April 2, 1865) Danville, Virginia (April 3–April 10, 1865) Largest city New Orleans... The Irish Question is the phrase used for the internal dispute in Britain concerning rational Irish nationalism and calls for independence. ... The Front Quad University College London, commonly known as UCL, is one of the colleges that make up the University of London. ... A professor is a senior teacher and researcher, usually in a college or university. ... Legum Doctor (English: Doctor of Laws; abbreviated to LL.D.) In the UK the LL.D. is a higher doctorate awarded on the basis of exceptionally insightful and distinctive publications, containing significant and original contributions to the science or study of law. ... Blackheath is a suburb of London, divided between the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Greenwich. ... July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 176 days remaining. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

The last years of Cairnes' life were spent in the collection and publication of some scattered papers contributed to various reviews and magazines, and in the preparation of his most extensive and important work. The Political Essays, published in 1873, comprise all his papers relating to Ireland and its university system, together with some other articles of a somewhat similar nature. The Essays in Political Economy, Theoretical and Applied, which appeared in the same year, contain the essays towards a solution of the gold question, brought up to date and tested by comparison with statistics of prices. Among the other articles in. the volume the more important are the criticisms on Frédéric Bastiat and Auguste Comte, and the essays on Political Economy and Land, and on Political Economy and Laissez-Faire, which have been referred to above. In 1874 appeared his largest work, Some Leading Principles of Political Economy, newly Expounded, which is beyond doubt a worthy successor to the great treatises of Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo and J.S. Mill. It does not expound a completed system of political economy; many important doctrines are left untouched; and in general the treatment of problems is not such as would be suited for a systematic manual. The work is essentially a commentary on some of the principal doctrines of the English school of economists, such as valu3, cost of production, wages, labour and capital, and international values, and is replete with keen criticism and lucid illustration. While in fundamental harmony with Mill, especially as regards the general conception of the science, Cairnes differs from him to a greater or less extent on nearly all the cardinal doctrines, subjects his opinions to a searching examination, and generally succeeds in giving to the truth that is common to both a firmer basis and a more precise statement. The last labour to which he devoted himself was a republication of his first work on the Logical Method of Political Economy. Frédéric Bastiat Claude Frédéric Bastiat (June 30, 1801–December 24, 1850) was a French classical liberal theorist, political economist, and member of the French assembly. ... Auguste Comte Auguste Comte (full name Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte) (January 17 (recorded January 19), 1798 - September 5, 1857) was a French positivist thinker and came up with the term of sociology to name the new science made by Saint-Simon. ... Adam Smith, FRSE, (baptised and probably born June 5, 1723 O.S. (June 16 N.S.) – July 17, 1790) was a Scottish political economist and moral philosopher. ... Rev. ... David Ricardo (April 18, 1772 – September 11, 1823), a political economist, is often credited with systematizing economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists. ... John Stuart Mill (May 20, 1806 – May 8, 1873), an English philosopher and political economist, was an influential classical liberal thinker of the 19th century. ... In general, the economic value of something is how much a product or service is worth to someone relative to other things (often measured in money). ... A wage is the amount of money paid for some specified quantity of labour. ... In classical economics and all micro-economics labour is a measure of the work done by human beings and is one of three factors of production, the others being land and capital. ... Capital has a number of related meanings in economics, finance and accounting. ...

Taken as a whole, the works of Cairnes formed the most important contribution to economical science made by the English school since the publication of J. S. Mill's Principles. It is not possible to indicate more than generally the special advances in economic doctrine effected by him, but the following points may be noted as establishing for him a claim to a place beside Ricardo and Mill.

Cairnes' exposition of the province and method of political economy: He never suffers it to be forgotten that political economy is a science, and consequently that its results are entirely neutral with respect to social facts or systems. It has simply to trace the necessary connections among the phenomena of wealth and dictates no rules for practice. Further, he is distinctly opposed both to those who would treat political economy as an integral part of social philosophy, and to those who have attempted to express economic facts in quantitative formulae and to make economy a branch of applied mathematics. According to him political economy is a mixed science, its field being partly mental, partly physical. It may be called a positive science, because its premises are facts, but it is hypothetical in so far as the laws it lays down are only approximately true, i.e. are only valid in the absence of counteracting agencies. yt dftj cgh cjhgScience in the broadest sense refers to any system of knowledge attained by verifiable means. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A hypothesis (from Greek ) is a suggested explanation of a phenomenon or reasoned proposal suggesting a possible correlation between multiple phenomena. ...

From this view of the nature of the science, it follows at once that the method to be pursued must be that called by Mill the physical or concrete deductive, which starts from certain known causes, investigates their consequences and verifies or tests the result by comparison with facts of experience. It may, perhaps, be thought that Cairnes gives too little attention to the effects of the organism of society on economic facts, and that he is disposed to overlook what Walter Bagehot called the postulates of political economy. Walter Bagehot (3 February 1826 – 24 March 1877), IPA (see [[1]]), was a nineteenth century British economist. ...

Cairnes' analysis of cost of production in its relation to value: According to Mill, the universal elements in cost of production are the wages of labour and the profits of capital. To this theory Cairnes objects that wages, being remuneration, can in no sense be considered as cost, and could only have come to be regarded as cost in consequence of the whole problem being treated from the point of view of the capitalist, to whom, no doubt, the wages paid represent cost. The real elements of cost of production he looks upon as labour, abstinence and risk, the second of these falling mainly, though not necessarily, upon the capitalist. In this analysis he to a considerable extent follows and improves upon Nassau William Senior, who had previously defined cost of production as the sum of the labour and abstinence necessary to production. Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately owned, and capital is invested in the production, distribution, and other trade of goods and services for profit in a market. ... Risk is a concept which relates to human expectations. ... Nassau William Senior (September 26, 1790 - June 4, 1864), English economist, was born at Compton, Berkshire, the eldest son of the Rev. ...

Cairnes' exposition of the natural or social limit to free competition, and of its bearing on the theory of value: He points out that in any organized society there can hardly be the ready transference of capital from one employment to another, which is the indispensable condition of free competition; while class distinctions render it impossible for labour to transfer itself readily to new occupations. Society may thus be regarded as consisting of a series of noncompeting industrial groups, with free competition among the members of any one group or class. Now the only condition under which cost of production will regulate value is perfect competition. It follows that the normal value of commodities-the value which gives to the producers the average and usual remuneration will depend upon cost of production only when the exchange is confined to the members of one class, among whom there is free competition. In exchange between classes or non-competing industrial groups, the normal value is simply a case of international value, and depends upon reciprocal demand, that is to say, is such as will satisfy the equation of demand. This theory is a substantial contribution to economical science and throws great light upon the general problem of value. At the same time, it may be thought that Cairnes overlooked a point brought forward prominently by Senior, who also had called attention to the bearing of competition on the relation between cost of production and value. The cost to the producer fixes the limit below which the price cannot fall without the supply being affected; but it is the desire of the consumer-i.e. what he is willing to give up rather than be compelled to produce the commodity for himself that fixes the maximum value of the article. To treat the whole problem of natural or normal value from the point of view of the producer is to give but a one-sided theory of the facts. Competition is the act of striving against another force for the purpose of achieving dominance or attaining a reward or goal, or out of a biological imperative such as survival. ... See also Cost-of-production theory of value Marginal theory of value Labor theory of value Categories: Stub ... Perfect competition is an economic model that describes a hypothetical market form in which no producer or consumer has the market power to influence prices. ... The supply and demand model describes how prices vary as a result of a balance between product availability at each price (supply) and the desires of those with purchasing power at each price (demand). ...

Cairnes' defence of the wages fund doctrine: This doctrine, expounded by Mill in his Principles, bad been relinquished by him, but Cairnes still undertook to defend it. He certainly succeeded in removing from the theory much that bad tended to obscure its real meaning and in placing it in its very best aspect. He also showed the sense in which, when treating the problem of wages, we must refer to some fund devoted to the payment of wages, and pointed out the conditions under which the wages fund may increase or decrease. It may be added that his Leading Principles contain admirable discussions on trade unions and protection, together with a clear analysis of the difficult theory of international trade and value, in which there is much that is both novel and valuable. The Logical Method contains about the best exposition and defence of Ricardo’s theory of rent; and the Essays contain a very clear and formidable criticism of Bastiat’s economic doctrines. A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... International trade is the exchange of goods and services across international boundaries or territories. ...

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

Resources and external links

• New School: John Elliott Cairnes
• NUI Galway: John Elliott Cairnes NUI Galway is the successor to Queen's College Galway
• The Slave Power, online text of the second edition from, Making of America Books, at the University of Michigan.

Two of Cairnes's books are available at the Archive for the History of Economic Thought

• An Examination into the Principles of Currency (1854)
• The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy (1875)

The latter is also available from the Library of Economics and Liberty

• The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy (1875)

External links

• Works by John Elliot Cairnes at Project Gutenberg