Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Walter Bagehot" - New World

From New World Encyclopedia
Line 42: Line 42:
 
:“It is the life of teachers which is catching, not their tenets” (''Physics and Politics'', 1872).  
 
:“It is the life of teachers which is catching, not their tenets” (''Physics and Politics'', 1872).  
  
He claimed that personal example of a leader sets the tone for the whole governance. That is why “character issues” are so important for any government. Character issues still play important role in deciding the potential candidate for any leadership position in today’s modern world.   
+
He claimed that personal example of a leader sets the tone for the whole governance. That is why “character issues” are so important for any government. Character "issues" still play important role in deciding the potential candidate for any leadership position in today’s modern world.   
  
 
Bagehot coined the still-current expression "the cake of custom". The phrase denotes the sets of customs that certain society is rooted in. Bagehot believed that customs develop and evolve throughout the human history, with best organized groups overthrow the poorly organized groups. In this sense Bagehot’s views are clear example of cultural selection, closer to Lamarckian than Darwinian evolution. The central problematic in his book was to understand why Europeans could break away from tradition and “the cake of custom” and instead focus on progress and novelty. He saw tradition important in keeping societies cohesive, but also believed that diversity was essential for progress. He wrote:  
 
Bagehot coined the still-current expression "the cake of custom". The phrase denotes the sets of customs that certain society is rooted in. Bagehot believed that customs develop and evolve throughout the human history, with best organized groups overthrow the poorly organized groups. In this sense Bagehot’s views are clear example of cultural selection, closer to Lamarckian than Darwinian evolution. The central problematic in his book was to understand why Europeans could break away from tradition and “the cake of custom” and instead focus on progress and novelty. He saw tradition important in keeping societies cohesive, but also believed that diversity was essential for progress. He wrote:  
  
:”The great difficulty which history records is not that of the first step, but that of the second step. What is most evident is not the difficulty of getting a fixed law, but getting out of a fixed law; not of cementing (as upon a former occasion I phrased it) a cake of custom, but of breaking the cake of custom; not of making the first preservative habit, but of breaking through it, and reaching something better.”  
+
:”The great difficulty which history records is not that of the first step, but that of the second step. What is most evident is not the difficulty of getting a fixed law, but getting out of a fixed law; not of cementing (as upon a former occasion I phrased it) a cake of custom, but of breaking the cake of custom; not of making the first preservative habit, but of breaking through it, and reaching something better.”
  
 
===''Lombard Street'' (1873)===
 
===''Lombard Street'' (1873)===
Line 55: Line 55:
 
==Legacy==
 
==Legacy==
  
Bagehot was one of the first economists who studied the relationship between physical and social sciences from the sociological perspective. In his contributions to sociological theory through historical studies, Bagehot may be compared to his contemporary [[Henry James Sumner Maine]]. He also developed a distinct theory of central banking.
+
Bagehot was one of the first economists who studied the relationship between physical and social sciences from the sociological perspective. In his contributions to sociological theory through historical studies, Bagehot may be compared to his contemporary [[Henry Maine]]. He also developed a distinct theory of central banking.
  
 
In honor of his achievements ''The Economist'' named its weekly column on British politics after him and every year the British Political Studies Association awards the Walter Bagehot Prize for the best dissertation in the field of [[government]] and [[public administration]].
 
In honor of his achievements ''The Economist'' named its weekly column on British politics after him and every year the British Political Studies Association awards the Walter Bagehot Prize for the best dissertation in the field of [[government]] and [[public administration]].
Line 61: Line 61:
 
==Publications==
 
==Publications==
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 1848. [http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/mill/bagehot.html "Review of Mill's Principles of Political Economy"]. Prospective Review, 4(16), 460-502
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 1848. [http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/mill/bagehot.html Review of Mill's Principles of Political Economy]. ''Prospective Review'', 4(16), 460-502
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 1858. Estimates of Some Englishmen and Scotchmen. London: Chapman and Hall
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 1858. ''Estimates of Some Englishmen and Scotchmen''. London: Chapman and Hall
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 1875. [http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/jevons/bagehot.htm "A New Standard of Value"]. The Economist, November 20
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 1875. [http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/jevons/bagehot.htm A New Standard of Value]. ''The Economist'', November 20
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 1879. Literary Studies. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 1879. ''Literary Studies.'' London: Longmans, Green and Co.
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 1998 (original work published 1880). Economic Studies. Augustus M Kelley Pubs. ISBN 0678008523
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 1998 (original work published 1880). ''Economic Studies''. Augustus M Kelley Pubs. ISBN 0678008523
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1867). The English Constitution. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192839756
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1867). ''The English Constitution''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192839756
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1873). Lombard Street: A description of the money market. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 140210006X
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1873). ''Lombard Street: A description of the money market''. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 140210006X
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1877). Some Articles on the Depreciation of Silver and on Topics Connected with It. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 140216288X
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1877). ''Some Articles on the Depreciation of Silver and on Topics Connected with It''. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 140216288X
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1889). The Works of Walter Bagehot. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1421254530
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1889). ''The Works of Walter Bagehot''. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1421254530
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 2006 (original work published 1881). Biographical Studies. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1428608400
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 2006 (original work published 1881). ''Biographical Studies''. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1428608400
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 2006 (original work published 1872). Physics and Politics. Dodo Press. ISBN 1406504408
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 2006 (original work published 1872). ''Physics and Politics''. Dodo Press. ISBN 1406504408
  
* Bagehot, Walter. 2006 (original work published 1885). The Postulates of English Political Economy. Cosimo. ISBN 1596053771
+
* Bagehot, Walter. 2006 (original work published 1885). ''The Postulates of English Political Economy''. Cosimo. ISBN 1596053771
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
  
* Barrington, Russell. 1914. Life of Walter Bagehot. Longmans, Green and Co.  
+
* Barrington, Russell. 1914. ''Life of Walter Bagehot''. Longmans, Green and Co.  
  
* Buchan, Alastair. 1960.  The spare chancellor: The life of Walter Bagehot. Michigan State University Press. ISBN 087013051X
+
* Buchan, Alastair. 1960.  ''The spare chancellor: The life of Walter Bagehot''. Michigan State University Press. ISBN 087013051X
  
 
* Cousin, John William 1910. ''A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.'' New York, E.P. Dutton.  
 
* Cousin, John William 1910. ''A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.'' New York, E.P. Dutton.  
  
* Morgan, Forrest. 1995. The Works of Walter Bagehot. Routledge. ISBN 0415131545
+
* Morgan, Forrest. 1995. ''The Works of Walter Bagehot''. Routledge. ISBN 0415131545
  
* Orel, Harold. 1984. Victorian Literary Critics: George Henry Lewes, Walter Bagehot, Richard Holt Hutton, Leslie Stephen, Andrew Lang, George Saintsbury, and Edmund Goss. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0312843046
+
* Orel, Harold. 1984. ''Victorian Literary Critics: George Henry Lewes, Walter Bagehot, Richard Holt Hutton, Leslie Stephen, Andrew Lang, George Saintsbury, and Edmund Goss''. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0312843046
  
* Sisson C. H. 1972. The case of Walter Bagehot. Faber and Faber Ltd. ISBN 0571095011
+
* Sisson C. H. 1972. ''The case of Walter Bagehot''. Faber and Faber Ltd. ISBN 0571095011
  
* Stevas, Norman. 1959. Walter Bagehot a Study of His Life and Thought Together with a Selection from His Political Writings. Indiana University Press.
+
* Stevas, Norman. 1959. ''Walter Bagehot a Study of His Life and Thought Together with a Selection from His Political Writings''. Indiana University Press.
  
* Sullivan, Harry R. 1975. Walter Bagehot. Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0805710183
+
* Sullivan, Harry R. 1975. ''Walter Bagehot''. Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0805710183
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==

Revision as of 06:08, 3 December 2006


Walter Bagehot.

Walter Bagehot (born February 3, 1826 – died March 24, 1877) was a British journalist, political analyst and economist, famous for his analysis of British Parliament and money market. Under his leadership ‘’The Economist’’ became one of world’s leading business and political journals.

Life

Walter Bagehot was born in Langport, Somerset, England, the son of a local banker. He attended the University College London, where he earned a Master's degree in mathematics in 1848. He was called to the Bar, but decided not to practice law, but to join his father in the banking business, in Stuckey & Co. in the west of England.

While still working as a banker, Bagehot started to write, first for some periodicals, and then for The National Review. He soon became the editor of the paper. In 1857 he met James Wilson, founder and editor of The Economist, a political and financial weekly magazine. Bagehot married Wilson’s daughter in 1858.

In 1860 Bagehot succeeded his father-in-law, James Wilson, as editor of The Economist. After taking over he expanded the publication's reporting on the United States and on politics, and is considered to have increased its influence among policymakers. Bagehot became influential in both politics and economy, among whose friends were statesmen George Cornewall Lewis and Grant Duff, Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, and governor and directors of the Bank of England.

Bagehot tried few times to run for the member of the Parliament, but without success. He remained at the head of The Economist for the rest of his life. He died suddenly on March 24, 1877 in his home in Langport, Somerset, England, in the age of 51.

Work

Bagehot was a person with a whole variety of interests. He wrote on the topics of economy, politics, law, literature, etc. He remains most famous however after his three books - The English Constitution (1867), Physics and Politics (1872), and Lombard Street (1873).

The English Constitution (1867)

In 1867, Bagehot wrote a book called The English Constitution which explored the constitution of the United Kingdom, specifically the functioning of the British Parliament and the British monarchy, and the contrasts between British and American government. In it Bagehot revealed how the Parliament operates behind the curtain, hidden from the common knowledge. He divided the constitution into two components –

- The Dignified – symbolical side of the constitution, and

- The Efficient - the real face of the constitution, the way things actually work and get done.

Instead of describing the constitution from the point of the law, as a lawyer would, Bagehot focused on the practical implications of the constitution, as experienced by a common man. The book soon became widely popular, ensuring Bagehot worldwide fame.

Bagehot’s work can be closely associated with the English institutionalist-historicist tradition. He did not directly oppose the Classical economics, but advocated for its reorganization. He claimed that economics need to incorporate more factors in its theory, such as cultural and social factors, in order to be more accurate in theorizing about economic processes.

Physics and Politics (1872)

He also wrote Physics and Politics (1872), in which he tried to apply the principles of evolution to human societies. The subtitle of the book reads: Thoughts on the Application of the Principles of "Natural Selection" and "Inheritance" to Political Society, The book represents a pioneering effort to make the relationship between the natural and the social sciences. In it Bagehot explained the functioning of the market, and how it affects the behavior of the people. He, for example, believed that people tend to invest money when the mood of the market is positive, and restrain from it when it comes to a negative phase.

In the book Bagehot also reflects on the psychology of politics, especially on the personality of a leader. He stressed two things as essential for leadership – personality of a leader and his motivation. Bagehot believed that motivation plays one of the key roles in good leadership, and that personality of a leader often counts more than the policy he endorses. He said:

“It is the life of teachers which is catching, not their tenets” (Physics and Politics, 1872).

He claimed that personal example of a leader sets the tone for the whole governance. That is why “character issues” are so important for any government. Character "issues" still play important role in deciding the potential candidate for any leadership position in today’s modern world.

Bagehot coined the still-current expression "the cake of custom". The phrase denotes the sets of customs that certain society is rooted in. Bagehot believed that customs develop and evolve throughout the human history, with best organized groups overthrow the poorly organized groups. In this sense Bagehot’s views are clear example of cultural selection, closer to Lamarckian than Darwinian evolution. The central problematic in his book was to understand why Europeans could break away from tradition and “the cake of custom” and instead focus on progress and novelty. He saw tradition important in keeping societies cohesive, but also believed that diversity was essential for progress. He wrote:

”The great difficulty which history records is not that of the first step, but that of the second step. What is most evident is not the difficulty of getting a fixed law, but getting out of a fixed law; not of cementing (as upon a former occasion I phrased it) a cake of custom, but of breaking the cake of custom; not of making the first preservative habit, but of breaking through it, and reaching something better.”

Lombard Street (1873)

In his famous the Lombard Street (1873), Bagehot explains the theory behind the banking system, using the insights from the English money market. Similar as with the English Constitution six years earlier, Bagehot described the English banking system through the eyes of a simple person, as experienced in everyday life.

He had shown that the English money system was solely relying on the central bank, the Bank of England. Bagehot had warned that the whole reserve was in the central bank, under no effectual penalty of failure. He proposed several ideas how to improve that system.

Legacy

Bagehot was one of the first economists who studied the relationship between physical and social sciences from the sociological perspective. In his contributions to sociological theory through historical studies, Bagehot may be compared to his contemporary Henry Maine. He also developed a distinct theory of central banking.

In honor of his achievements The Economist named its weekly column on British politics after him and every year the British Political Studies Association awards the Walter Bagehot Prize for the best dissertation in the field of government and public administration.

Publications

  • Bagehot, Walter. 1858. Estimates of Some Englishmen and Scotchmen. London: Chapman and Hall
  • Bagehot, Walter. 1879. Literary Studies. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
  • Bagehot, Walter. 1998 (original work published 1880). Economic Studies. Augustus M Kelley Pubs. ISBN 0678008523
  • Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1867). The English Constitution. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192839756
  • Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1873). Lombard Street: A description of the money market. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 140210006X
  • Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1877). Some Articles on the Depreciation of Silver and on Topics Connected with It. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 140216288X
  • Bagehot, Walter. 2001 (original work published 1889). The Works of Walter Bagehot. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1421254530
  • Bagehot, Walter. 2006 (original work published 1881). Biographical Studies. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1428608400
  • Bagehot, Walter. 2006 (original work published 1872). Physics and Politics. Dodo Press. ISBN 1406504408
  • Bagehot, Walter. 2006 (original work published 1885). The Postulates of English Political Economy. Cosimo. ISBN 1596053771

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Barrington, Russell. 1914. Life of Walter Bagehot. Longmans, Green and Co.
  • Buchan, Alastair. 1960. The spare chancellor: The life of Walter Bagehot. Michigan State University Press. ISBN 087013051X
  • Cousin, John William 1910. A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. New York, E.P. Dutton.
  • Morgan, Forrest. 1995. The Works of Walter Bagehot. Routledge. ISBN 0415131545
  • Orel, Harold. 1984. Victorian Literary Critics: George Henry Lewes, Walter Bagehot, Richard Holt Hutton, Leslie Stephen, Andrew Lang, George Saintsbury, and Edmund Goss. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0312843046
  • Sisson C. H. 1972. The case of Walter Bagehot. Faber and Faber Ltd. ISBN 0571095011
  • Stevas, Norman. 1959. Walter Bagehot a Study of His Life and Thought Together with a Selection from His Political Writings. Indiana University Press.
  • Sullivan, Harry R. 1975. Walter Bagehot. Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0805710183

External links

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