ABSTRACT
Two outstanding critics of standard economics, Kenneth Boulding and Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, have argued powerfully that the mechanical analogue should be replaced by an evolutionary approach (Boulding 1981: Georgescu-Roegen 1971). In recent years the challenge has evoked a growing response; a significant number of economists are exploring economic biology and there are signs that cliometricians are beginning to question the dominant influence of mechanical models on their work.1 The patron saint of this movement is Alfred Marshall, whose famous declaration provides a motto: ‘The Mecca of the economist is economic biology rather than economic dynamics’ (Marshall 1898:43). Let us explore Marshall’s case for economic biology and assess the contribution which he made to advance the cause.
