Does anyone have a good article on the history of 
the term "economics"? I find it significant that 
the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary, begun in 
1878 and completed in 1928 and meant to be the 
last word on English words, does not even have an 
entry for "economics," neither in the main 
section nor in the supplement. The latest edition 
gives Ralph Waldo Emerson as the first use of the 
term in the modern sense in 1841. Benjamin 
Disraeli uses the term in 1844, apparently as a 
way to separate the pesky topic of morals from 
the science of political economy. I believe it 
was Jevons who suggested that a change in terms 
was necessary to reflect the "scientific" nature 
of marginalism, but I don't think the term comes 
into general usage until A. E. Marshall's 
Principles of Economics, which begins, "Political 
Economy, or Economics, is a study of man's 
actions in the ordinary business of life; it 
inquires how he gets his income and how he uses 
it." It is significant, is it not, that he has to 
use the older term first. He is clearly innovating.

Any help is appreciated.

John C. M?daille