Abstract
John Rae was born in Aberdeen on 1 June 1796 into a merchant and shipping family. He graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1815 and read medicine in the University of Edinburgh, but had to abandon his studies when his father’s business failed in 1817. He emigrated to Canada in 1822 and turned to medical practice (whence ‘Dr’ Rae) and school teaching. He also participated in public affairs, but his career was shattered in 1848 when he was dismissed on spurious grounds after becoming embroiled in controversies about church control of education. Rae set out to start a new life first in California, and then the Hawaiian island of Maui. After another 20 years of farming, teaching, providing medical services to the natives, and serving as district judge and notary public, Rae went to live with a former pupil in New York, where he died on 12 July 1872.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Åkerman, G. 1923–4. Realkapital und Kapitalzins. Stockholm: Centraltryckeriet.
Bentham, J. 1787. Defence of usury. In Jeremy Bentham’s economic writings, ed. W. Stark, vol. 1. London: George Allen and Unwin.
Birchler, U.W. 1980. John Rae (1796–1872). Seine Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung. Bern: Lang.
Böhm-Bawerk, E. von. 1900. Kapital und Kapitalzins, vol. 1, Geschichte und Kritik der Kapitalzines-Theorien. 2nd ed. Innsbruck: Wagner. Trans. as: Capital and interest, vol. 1, history and critique of interest theories. South Holland: Libertarian Press, 1959.
Bowley, M. 1937. Nassau senior and classical economics. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Edmonson, N. 1970. John Rae and liquidity preference. History of Political Economy 2: 432–440.
Fisher, I. 1907. The rate of interest. New York: Macmillan.
Fisher, I. 1930. The theory of interest. New York: Macmillan.
Hearn, W.E. 1863. Plutology, or the theory of the efforts to satisfy human wants. Melbourne: Robertson.
James, R.W. 1965. John Rae, political economist. An account of his life and a compilation of his main writings. 2 vols. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Lauderdale, [J. Maitland] Earl of. 1804. An inquiry into the nature and origin of public wealth. Edinburgh: Constable.
Lehmann, H. 1937. John Raes Werk, seine philosophischen und methodologischen Grundlagen. Dresden: Dittert.
Mill, J.S. 1848. Principles of political economy, ed. W.J. Ashley. London: Longmans, 1909.
Mixter, C.W. 1897. A forerunner of Böhm-Bawerk. Quarterly Journal of Economics 11: 161–190.
Mixter, C.W. 1902. Böhm-Bawerk on Rae. Quarterly Journal of Economics 16: 385–412.
Robbins, L. 1968. The theory of economic development in the history of economic thought. London: Macmillan.
Schumpeter, J.A. 1911. Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot. Trans. as The theory of economic development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1934.
Spengler, J.J. 1959. John Rae on economic development: A note. Quarterly Journal of Economics 73: 393–406.
Veblen, T.B. 1899. The theory of the leisure class. New York: Macmillan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Hennings, K.H. (2018). Rae, John (1796–1872). In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1609
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1609
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95188-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95189-5
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences