An Outline of the History of Economic Thought

Abstract

Provides a comprehensive and analytical overview of the development of economic theory from its beginnings, at the end of the Middle Ages, up to contemporary contributions. Traditional theories are presented as living matter and modern theories as part of a historical process and not as established truths. In this way, the book avoids the dangerous dichotomy between the ‘pure’ historians of thought, who dedicate themselves exclusively to studying ‘facts’, and the ‘pure’ theorists, who are interested only in the evolution of the logical structure of theories. An unconventionally large amount of space is reserved for the thought of the last 50 years of the twentieth century, for more than 50% of scientific knowledge has been produced in this time span. The book is not directed to a specialist public nor solely to a student audience. It aims to reach the educated person who has an interest in understanding the context in which economic ideas were formed.

Economic thought in the 17th and 18th centuries: a linguistic approach

“…Nevertheless, more recent works on the history of economic thought have separated mercantilism into two phases: the mercantilism of the sixteenth century and the mercantilism of the seventeenth century onwards (Schumpeter, 1954;Screpanti and Zamagni, 1993;Blaug, 1997 hold this new view). Also, some renowned historians of mercantilism, such as Magnusson (2003), argue that the mercantilists of that second phase changed the conception of wealth and saw it always as the result of production and consumption.…”

Societies in Transition

“…Institutional economics is considered as a specific historical specialized by the notion of evolutionary change, compare Veblen (1898Veblen ( , 1904. This theoretical variant makes it different to the German historical school, compare Screpanti and Zamagni (2005) and Milonakis and Fine (2008). Thorstein Veblen has considered institutional change as endogenous, indicating that its drivers are always within the system and initialize transition or selftransformation.…”

Andreas Heinrich Voigt and the Hicks‐allen Revolution in Consumer Theory

“…4 4 See, for example, Schumpeter (1954, p. 1065), Niehans (1990, p. 282), and Screpanti and Zamagni (1993, p. 204). Creedy's more complete discussion of Edgeworth's views on utility represents something of an exception here.…”