ABSTRACT

The important place that the University of Chicago occupies in the history of twentieth-century economics is validated by its numerous Nobel Prizes and reflected in the numerous studies of the "Chicago School" undertaken by historians of economics. This chapter presents a brief precis of Jacob Viner's career and from there, move on to a discussion of Jacob Viner's manner of teaching. However, Jacob Viner made important contributions to price theory scholarship and was known as a brilliant teacher of the subject—one whose approach had a powerful impact on his students. The price theory lectures contain more of Viner's original work. The lectures on cost and supply closely follow the treatment given in his famous 1931 article. Economic theory has been improved and polished since Viner's time: Vinerian cost curves and marginal productivity theory has trickled down to the undergraduates and some topics, such as imperfect competition, are treated in a more systematic manner.