Benefits to be gained from the Study of the History of Economic Thought.
In the study of modern economic thought there are many principles and theories that must be considered to gain a holistic appreciation of the discipline of economics. Valuable insight is gained by any economic scholar when they take any theory or type of economic thought that interests them and study its origins, for it is a necessary process in the full understanding of a thought process to now where that thought originated from in the first place. Ian Kerr in his paper on "The Value of the History of Economic Thought" feels that the study of the history of economics is extremely important as "it exposes students to the comprehensive, and holistic systems of economic and social thought, ., it enriches our understanding of contemporary economic thought" (Kerr, I., "The Value of the history of Economic thought, Journal of Economic and Social Policy, pp. 88). The study of the history of economic thought can also assist students to learn and possibly even profit from past errors, which also assists in future economic forecasting. These concepts are integral to gaining a full understanding towards the study of the economic disciplines. .
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Throughout the history of mankind man has evolved from very simple and humble beginnings to what can now be described an advanced and technical way of life. This evolution of life has been a natural progression with mankind making mistakes, documenting those mistakes and learning from them in the future. The thought processes of mankind have developed in the same way. With people taking old ideas studying them, finding the floors in those ideas and adapting and improving them into a more pure method of thought. A discipline such as economics develops in the same way, and whilst there is still poverty and a very large gap between the "have" and the "have nots", economic theory can in no way be "fully evolved".