Kevin Hoover wrote:
> ----------------- HES POSTING -----------------
> The earliest example of "deadweight loss" in JSTOR is not as early as 
> Hotelling.  It is
> Paul A. Samuelson, "The Transfer Problem and Transport Costs: The 
> Terms of Trade When Impediments are Absent," /The Economic Journal/, 
> Vol. 62, No. 246 (Jun., 1952), pp. 278-304.
>
> "Dead loss" shows up as earlier as 1887, but not in the sense of 
> deadweight loss.  The following might be the earliest relevant JSTOR 
> example, but I have not read it carefully:
> C. F. Bickerdike, "The Theory of Incipient Taxes," /The Economic 
> Journal/, Vol. 16, No. 64 (Dec., 1906), pp. 529-535
>
> Kevin Hoover
>
>


The OED online shows "deadweight" in numerous older uses, among them 
some in shipping and debt.


John Womack