Cairnes, John Elliot (1823–1875)

Irish political economist. He was one of the last classical economists (see classical economics). In 1856 he became Whately Professor of Political Economy at Dublin University. Three years later he became professor of political economy and jurisprudence at Queen's College, Galway, and in 1866 he succeeded to the chair of political economy at University College, London. His works include Character and Logical Method of Political Economy (1857), which was part of a long controversy with John Stuart Mill and Nassau Senior over the scope and method of economics, and Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (1874). Cairnes was educated at Trinity College, Dublin.