I just need to know who coined the economic terms "inferior good" and
"normal good."  It was the same person for both. The only information
i'm aware of so far is that it WAS an economist and it wasn't Larry
Summers.  It should be a quick google search for you guys, i'm just
not that efficient at manipulating search phrases using Google's
operators.

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Clarification of Question by kous-ga on 28 Jan 2005 12:29 PST

Truthfully i'm not 100% sure if it was the same person for both, but it should be.

Interesting but no name is given:

"Some years ago, a whiz kid in the World Bank observed that university
graduates earn substantially more than others. As a corollary, he
postulated, higher education is not a public good the way it was
thought to be. He coined the evocative description "inferior good" for
higher education..."
http://www.the-week.com/23mar16/events11.htm

Well thanks for searching I actually did stumble across that website
and was debating wheter or not to include it in my question as help.
That was as close to answering the question as I was able to come as
well. I'm sure the answer is out there somewhere, maybe increasing the
price would help me come to a conclusion???

Whoever it was certainly knew about the 'Income Elasticity of Demand'

Marshall credited Giffen with 'Giffen Goods'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giffen_good

"Marshall wrote in the 1895 edition of Principles of Economics:

As Mr. Giffen has pointed out, a rise in the price of bread makes so
large a drain on the resources of the poorer labouring families and
raises so much the marginal utility of money to them, that they are
forced to curtail their consumption of meat and the more expensive
farinaceous foods: and, bread being still the cheapest food which they
can get and will take, they consume more, and not less of it."

Note: not a mention of 'Inferior Goods', 'Normal Goods' or 'Luxury Goods'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Marshall
The interesting bit is the 'Theoretical Contributions' section

"Theoretical contributions
Marshall's economics were an extension of the work of John Stuart
Mill, Adam Smith, and David Ricardo. He downplayed the contributions
of certain other economists to his work, such as Vilfredo Pareto and
Jules Dupuit, and only grudgingly acknowledged the influence of
William Jevons himself.

Marshall's influence on codifying economic thought is difficult to
deny. He was the first to rigorously attach price determination to
supply and demand functions; modern economists owe the linkage between
price shifts and curve shifts to Marshall. Marshall was an important
part of the "marginalist revolution;" the idea that consumers attempt
to equal prices to their marginal utility was another contribution of
his. The price elasticity of demand was presented by Marshall as an
extension of these ideas."

My bet is the same person coined the 'Inferior Goods' phrase as
'Income Elasticity of Demand'

Alfred Marshall - The Principles of Economics (1890)
http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/marshall/prin/index.html

In Book Three he talks about 'Inferior Tea' and 'Inferior Joints'
- yet again not 'Inferior Goods'
- while he is talking about price elasticity he seems aware of income effects

frde,

Looks like you did quite an extensive search and your conclusion
seeming to be Alfred Marshall is correct in my opinion. I do need
definitive proof that it was him from a reliable source but if you'd
like to claim the answer be my guest. I think thats as close as anyone
will possibly get through an internet search.

Thanks

I suspect it was not Marshall
- rather someone summarizing his ideas
- a bit like Hicks with Keynes

I'm not a researcher - just one of what they call the 'peanut gallery'

Your question got me interested

I was quite sure it was Marshall after realizing he credited Robert
Giffen with 'Giffen Goods' which is a speciific type of inferior good.
So the concept of inferior goods must have been present at this time.
Think I might have to research this the old fashion way and hit the
books.

Your help is appreciated though even more soon now knowing that you're
not a researcher. Haha, who refers to you guys as the 'peanut
gallery'? Thats pretty funny. Hope its not the researchers, you've
been more help then they have!

Well - that is crux of the problem
- Marshall did not actually use the phrase 'Giffen Goods'

  |As Mr. Giffen has pointed out, ...|

There is a big difference between describing a phenomenon - and giving
it a snappy title.

I have got a hunch that the phrase might possibly have been used by
someone describing Indifference Curves

I think the 'peanut gallery' title is self bestowed 
- a sort of self deprecating .... snappy title

That was an interesting question, it has made me realize how much I have forgotton.