The Alfred Marshall Lectureship was established at the Faculty of Economics in 1932 in memory of Alfred Marshall, arguably the founder of modern economic science and undisputedly one of its pioneers. Under University statutes, it is concerned with ‘a subject in Economics, or in Economic History, or in some kindred subject’. The establishment of these lectures institutionalised an earlier practice of inviting a distinguished economist, generally from outside Cambridge, to give a number of lectures during Full Term. The Marshall Lectures have twin aims – first, to present and to elucidate research developments in Economics to a wide audience; while at the same time to educate and to inspire students to study Economics in all its facets. 
These Lectures are one of the premier academic events held at the Faculty of Economics. They are attended by students, faculty, and are also open to scholars across the University and to the general public. The Lectures are given in Full Term. It is expected that the Lecturer will give two lectures and will also deposit a copy of the text of the lectures in the Marshall Library.
The Marshall Lectures celebrate research in Economics and cognate disciplines, and those who have brought the spirit of enquiry to their field and in so doing have also distinguished themselves. Equally, it is expected that these Lectures will contribute to the academic training that is provided to Cambridge students. For this reason, the lectures are required to be accessible and intelligible both to scholars in the subject and to young students in the field. The Lecturer can assume that the audience has some reasonable understanding of the subject of Economics, but not the technical background that would be taken for granted when presenting a research seminar.
Over the years, these lectures have been delivered by some of the pre-eminent economists and social scientists of their generation. It is hoped that this will continue for many years to come.
Ultimately, the objective of these Lectures is to attain Alfred Marshall’s own vision for economics education in Cambridge, and as articulated in his words, ‘to increase the number of those, whom Cambridge sends out into the world with cool heads but warm hearts, to discover how far it is possible to open up to all the material means of a refined and noble life’.
The Marshall Lecturers, with the subjects that they have lectured upon, are shown below.
| 1946-1947 |
J Viner |
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| 1947-1948 |
Lionel C Robbins |
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| 1948-1949 |
R V N Hopkins |
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| 1949-1950 |
W K Hancock |
|
| 1950-1951 |
G Mydral |
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| 1951-1952 |
J Tinbergen |
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| 1952-1953 |
A C Pigou |
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| 1953-1954 |
Talcott Parsons |
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| 1954-1955 |
J Hicks |
|
| 1955-1956 |
W T Easterbrook |
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| 1956-1957 |
R Marjolin |
|
| 1957-1958 |
W Fellner |
|
| 1958-1959 |
Erik Lundberg |
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| 1959-1960 |
J H Habakkuk |
|
| 1960-1961 |
D Robertson |
|
| 1961-1962 |
E H Phelps Brown |
Collective Bargaining |
| 1962-1963 |
Trevor Swan |
Capital and the Crisis of Progress |
| 1963-1964 |
Robert M Solow |
Effective Demand and Capital Theory |
| 1964-1965 |
Raul Prebisch |
Trade and Development and the Impact of the Technological Revolution |
| 1965-1966 |
E A G Robinson |
The Beginning of Economic Planning in the United Kingdom |
| 1966-1967 |
Raymond Aaron |
When Economists and Sociologists Meet the Idea of Development |
| 1967-1968 |
Clark Kerr |
Marshall, Marx and the Working Class |
| 1968-1969 |
Simon Kuznets |
Economic Growth of Nations. Past Patterns and Present Problems |
| 1969-1970 |
Kenneth J Arrow |
Economic Theory and Racial Discrimination |
| 1970-1971 |
Paul M Sweezy |
On the theory of Monopoly Capitalism |
| 1971-1972 |
Roy Harrod |
The International Monetary System |
| 1972-1973 |
Maurice Dobb |
Ideology and Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century |
| 1973-1974 |
R A Mundell |
Macro-Economic Management of the World Economy: Theory of Structure |
| 1974-1975 |
A Leijonhufvud |
Marshall's Method and Present-Day Neoclassical Theory |
| 1975-1976 |
Ota Silk |
Connection Between Plan and Market in Socialist Economy |
| 1976-1977 |
J G Gurley |
The Dialectics of Development: USSR against China |
| 1977-1978 |
E Malinvaud |
Macroeconomic Policies and their Medium-term Consequences |
| 1978-1979 |
E Mandel |
The Long Waves of Capitalist Development: a Marxist View |
| 1979-1980 |
E J Hobsbawm |
Historians and Economists |
| 1980-1981 |
M Morishima |
Ideology and Economy |
| 1981-1982 |
R Miliband |
Class Conflict Revisited |
| 1982-1983 |
F Modigliani |
Effects of Fiscal Policy - A Life Cycle Perspective |
| 1983-1984 |
S A Marglin |
Growth, Distribution and Inflation: A Centennial Synthesis |
| 1984-1985 |
Robert E Lucas |
On the Mechanics of Economic Development |
| 1985-1986 |
C P Kindleberger |
International Capital Movements |
| 1986-1987 |
Lance Taylor |
Varieties of Monetary Experience |
| 1987-1988 |
Amartya K Sen |
Social Rationality |
| 1988-1989 |
S Chakravarty |
Development Economics, Past and Present |
| 1989-1990 |
Roy Radner |
Hierarchy: The Economics of Managing |
| 1990-1991 |
Lester C Thurow |
Producer Economics: Competition in a World Economy where Economic Goals Extend beyond Consumption and Leisure
Consumption and Leisure |
| 1991-1992 |
Paul A David |
Path Dependence - The Past and the Future of Economics |
| 1992-1993 |
David F Hendry |
Economic Forecasting |
| 1993-1994 |
Angus S Deaton |
Inequality, Saving and Development |
| 1994-1995 |
Alan Blinder |
Central Banking in Theory and Practice |
| 1995-1996 |
Joseph Stiglitz |
A Theorist's View of Policymaking and a Policymaker's View of Theory: Perspectives on Modern Macroeconomics |
| 1996-1997 |
Thomas Sargent |
The Evolution of Price Stability | Cambridge
University Press |
| 1997-1998 |
Clive Granger |
Empirical Models in Economics - Their Specification and Evaluation |
| 1998-1999 |
Robert D Putnam |
Social Capital: The Promise and Perils of Interdisciplinary Social Research |
| 1999-2000 |
David Card |
Work Incentives and Welfare Reform | PDF version |
| 2000-2001 |
John Campbell |
Understanding Risk and Return | PDF version |
| 2001-2002 |
Claudia Goldin |
An Evolving Force: Women in the US Economy Historically Considered | Lecture 1 | Lecture
2 |
| 2002-2003 |
Jean Tirole |
International Financial Crises | Reading 1 | Reading 2 | Reading 3 |
| 2003-2004 |
Ariel Pakes |
Models of Markets (for applied analysis) | Lecture 1 | Lecture
2 |
| 2004-2005 |
David Kahneman |
Psychology and the Rationality Assumption/Towards a Science of Wellbeing |
| 2005-2006 |
Olivier J Blanchard |
Unemployment and Labour Market Institutions |
| 2006-2007 |
Eric Maskin |
Is Majority Rule the Best Election Method? |
| 2007-2008 |
Justin Yifu Lin |
Development Strategy, Institutions and Economic Performance in Less Developed Countries |
| 2008-2009 |
Daron Acemoglu |
Persistence and Change in Institutions | Readings | Lecture 1 | Lecture 2 |
| 2009-2010 |
Drew Fudenberg |
Learning and Equilibrium in Games | Readings | Slides 1 | Slides 2 | Lecture 1 video | Lecture 2 video | Lecture 1 audio | Lecture 2 audio |
