Alfred Marshall dominated the world of Economics from about 1890 until his death in 1924. In his most important book, Principles of Economics, he 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. His primary concern in Principles was Microeconomics, the study of Individual markets and industries, and not the whole economy. 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.

Marshall used the tools of classical mechanics, including the concept of optimization, to make Economics dynamic rather than static. Like neo-classical economists who have followed in his footsteps, Marshall took technology, market institutions, and people’s preferences as given. However he believed that “the Mecca of the economist lies in economic biology rather than in economic dynamics.” The economy, according to him, is an evolutionary process in which technology, market institutions, and people’s preferences evolve along with people’s behaviour.

Principles of Economics, first published in 1890, went through eight editions and is considered the most important treatise of 19th century and beyond. It gave some landmark concepts like consumer surplus, producer surplus, price elasticity of demand, and the idea of three periods, viz. market period, short period and long period. The concept of National Dividend given in the Principles is not a mere academic toy, but a practical instrument of great power designed for service in the concrete solution of social problems. Marshall’s theoretic discussion follows the lines of the mathematical treatment of Cournot and others, more particularly in his discussion of the doctrines of value, cost, exchange, and distribution. He has used diagrams and formulae for purposes of illustration and for greater precision of statement.

This reprint of the book with a comprehensive Introduction has been brought to help the students, teachers and researchers of Economics in their academic pursuits, and for the economists to delve deeply into the subject and draw valuable conclusions for future progress of society.

About The Author
Alfred Marshall was born in London on 26 July, 1842. He grew up in the London suburb of Clapham and was educated in a school in Northwood and later at St John’s College, Cambridge. He is regarded as one of the greatest neo-classical economists in England, who dominated economic thinking from the 1890s to the 1930s through his teaching in Cambridge and his book Principles of Economics.

In 1875, after returning from a study of trade protection in the United States, he became increasingly interested in the study of Political Economy. He became the First Principal at University College, Bristol, where he lectured on the subject.

While Marshall was busy writing the Principles, he put in a good deal of effort into testimony before the Gold and Silver Commission, and in the 1890s he was closely associated with the Royal Commission on Labour. Alfred Marshall’s other major works include the following books: Elements of Economics of Industry (1892); Industry and Trade (1919); and Money, Credit and Commerce (1923). Marshall left a great legacy by teaching as Professor of Economics in Cambridge to a generation of economists, including A.C. Pigou and J.M. Keynes. These students are a testimony to Marshall’s greatness as a thinker, teacher, philanthropist and, above all, as an economist.

Table of Contents:
Preface to the First Edition; Preface to the Eighth Edition; Introduction—Volume I–Book I. Preliminary Survey—1. Introduction; 2. The Substance of Economics; 3. Economic Generalizations or Laws; 4. The Order and Aims of Economic Studies–Book II. Some Fundamental Notions–1. Introductory; 2. Wealth; 3. Production. Consumption. Labour. Necessaries; 4. Income. Capital–Book III. On Wants and Their Satisfaction–1. Introductory; 2. Wants in Relation to Activities; 3. Gradations of Consumers’ Demand; 4. The Elasticity of Wants; 5. Choice Between Different Uses of the Same Thing.Immediate and Deferred Uses; 6. Value and Utility–Book IV. The Agents of Production. Land, Labour, Capital and Organization–1. Introductory; 2. The Fertility of Land; 3. The Fertility of Land, Continued. The Tendency to Diminishing Return; 4. The Growth of Population; 5. The Health and Strength of the Population; 6. Industrial Training; 7. The Growth of Wealth; 8. Industrial Organization; 9. Industrial Organization, Continued. Division of Labour. The Influence of Machinery; 10. Industrial Organization, Continued. The Concentration of Specialized Industries in Particular Localities; 11. Industrial Organization, Continued. Production on a Large Scale; 12. Industrial Organization, Continued.Business Management; 13. Conclusion. Correlation of the Tendencies to Increasing and to Diminishing Return–Book V. General Relations of Demand, Supply, and Value–1. Introductory. On Markets; 2. Temporary Equilibrium of Demand and Supply; 3. Equilibrium of Normal Demand and Supply; 4. The Investment and Distribution of Resources; 5. Equilibrium of Normal Demand and Supply, Continued, with Reference to Long and Short Periods; 6. Joint and Composite Demand. Joint and Composite Supply; 7. Prime and Total Cost in Relation to Joint Products. Cost of Marketing. Insurance Against Risk. Cost of Reproduction; 8. Marginal Costs in Relation to Values. General Principles; 9. Marginal Costs in Relation to Values. General Principles, Continued; 10. Marginal Costs in Relation to Agricultural Values; 11. Marginal Costs in Relation to Urban Values; 12. Equilibrium of Normal Demand and Supply, Continued, with Reference to the Law of Increasing Return; 13. Theory of Changes of Normal Demand and Supply in Relation to the Doctrine of Maximum Satisfaction; 14. The Theory of Monopolies; 15. Summary of the General Theory of Equilibrium of Demand and Supply—Volume II–Book VI. The Distribution of National Income—1. Preliminary Survey of Distribution; 2. Preliminary Survey of Distribution, Continued; 3. Earnings of Labour; 4. Earnings of Labour, Continued; 5. Earnings of Labour, Continued; 6. Interest of Capital; 7. Profits of Capital and Business Power; 8. Profits of Capital and Business Power, Continued; 9. Rent of Land; 10. Land Tenure; 11. General View of Distribution; 12. General Influences of Economic Progress; 13. Progress in Relation to Standards of Life–Appendices–Appendix A: The Growth of Free Industry and Enterprise; Appendix B: The Growth of Economic Science; Appendix C: The Scope and Method of Economics; Appendix D: Uses of Abstract Reasoning in Economics; Appendix E: Definitions of Capital; Appendix F: Barter; Appendix G: The Incidence of Local Rates, with Some Suggestions as to Policy; Appendix H: Limitations of the Use of Statical Assumptions in Regard to Increasing Return; Appendix I: Ricardo’s Theory of Value; Appendix J: The Doctrine of the Wages-fund; Appendix K: Certain Kinds of Surplus; Appendix L: Ricardo’s Doctrine as to Taxes and Improvements in Agriculture; Mathematical Appendix; Index