Economic History Commons^™

Working Paper No. 30, On The Origins Of Laissez-Faire, Thomas Breaden

Working Papers in Economics

This paper traces laissez-faire back to its French roots, and in particular, to its origins as a political philosophy evoking an economic approach. Related to his visit to France in the 1760s and his personal contacts, we suggest that Adam Smith serves as the link between selected French thinkers and what after Smith’s Inquiry would be widely accepted as a quintessentially Anglo-Saxon tradition in economics. Exploring doctrine, we offer linkages between F. Quesnay, A. Turgot, J.J. Rousseau, and Smith’s ideas. Similarities in Smith’s understanding and the French exponents regarding economic activity vis-a- vis a public sector are presented, along with …

Gill, Massachusetts: The Mariamante Parcel, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

In December of 2004, the small Massachusetts town of Gill took a tremendous step to influence its own future. A fifteen acre parcel of land in the south of town, near the intersection of two important town roads, had been put up for sale by its previous owners. The land had been under an agricultural preservation restriction, a program enabled by Massachusetts General Law Chapter 61 A. As part of this restriction, if the land were ever sold, the town would have right of first refusal.

The town's recent Community Development Plan has identified the parcel as a prime site …

Economic Development Plan Town Of Warren, Massachusetts, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This section of the Comprehensive Plan identifies economic development strategies within the framework of various development opportunities available to Warren given its current economic and geographical standing within the region. These economic development strategies strive to meet the needs and desires of the residents of Warren, Massachusetts based on their input and an analysis of local and regional economic trends and conditions. These potential economic strategies, intended to promote future economic growth, are in alignment with the Town’s core values and community goals.

Warren currently has two village centers, an active mill complex, significant open space, rivers and wetlands, and …

Investor Risk Aversion And The Weekend Effect: The Basics, Michael T. Young

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

This paper provides an explanation of the continued persistence of the weekend effect. Using the 23 non-holiday Wednesday closings of 1968 as a benchmark, it is postulated that negative Monday returns can be explained by risk averse investors reacting to the arrival of new information.

Attitudes Toward Race, Hierarchy And Transformation In The 19th Century, Sandra J. Peart, David M. Levy

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Using the debates between Classical political economists and their critics as our lens, this paper examines the question of whether we're the same or different. Starting with Adam Smith, Classical economics presumed that humans are the same in their capacity for language and trade ; observed differences were then explained by incentives, luck and history, and it is the "vanity of the philosopher" incorrectly to conclude otherwise. Such "analytical egalitarianism" was overthrown sometime after 1850 , when notions of race and hierarchy came to infect social analysis as a result of attacks on homogeneity by the Victorian Sages (including Thomas …