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This article discusses sociological aspects of British economic thought. This article seeks to amplify and interpret economist J.A. Schumpeter's remarks, but in a provisional rather than a comprehensive and definitive way, for there are serious gaps in people's knowledge. In 1885, when economist Alfred Marshall became professor of political economy at Cambridge, the condition of his subject was profoundly discouraging, and its immediate prospects seemed little better. Its public reputation had fallen, owing to the combined effects of a sharp public reaction against classical economics, an increased concern about current economic and social problems.