An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (Economic Thought Before Adam Smith, Vol. 1) [Hardcover]

Murray N. Rothbard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1995

This is a treatment, from a modern Austrian perspective, of the history of economic thought up to Adam Smith, and as such takes into account the profound influence of religious, social and political thought upon economics. The author contends that "laissez-faire" liberalism and economic thought itself began with the Catholic scholastics and early Roman and canon law, rather than with Adam Smith. The scholastics, he argues, established and developed the subjective utility and scarcity theory of value, as well as the theory that prices, or the value of money, depend on its supply and demand. This continental, or "pre-Austrian" tradition, was destroyed, rather than developed, by Adam Smith whose strong Calvinist tendencies towards glorifying labour, toil and thrift is contrasted with the emphasis in Scholastic economic thought towards labour in the service of consumption. Tracing economic thought from the Greeks to the Scottish Enlightenment, this book includes all the important figures in each school of thought, with their theories assessed in historical context.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Edward Elgar Pub (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852789611
• ISBN-13: 978-1852789619
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,729,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pre-Austrian Economic History from an Austrian Perspective, February 2, 2007

By 

Hans Haneberg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 Vol. Set) (Hardcover)

This work is a tour de force of economic thought, spanning a thousand pages and nearly two millennia.

The books thesis rests on Thomas Kuhn's theory of paradigm shifts of scientific intellectuals in "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions." In these two volumes, Rothbard grinds his axe against what he would refer to as the "Whig theory of history" or the idea that history of ideas is always a progression forward.

In light of this thesis, Rothbard carefully works in progression from ancient Greek thought of Plato, Aristotle, and Xenophobe to the late 19th century works of J.S. Mill, Marx, Bastiat and Pareto. What is truly amazing is amount of time in Volume I he devotes to smaller unknown scholastics (who revived much of the work of Aristotle after finding preserved by the Arabs) overlooked by works like Lionel Robbins lectures on Economic thought and much of Hayek's contributions, which were dominated by the Scottish Enlightenment. Insomuch, Rothbard credits - like Schumpeter did - many lesser individuals which prefigured Smith, like Turgot, Cantillon and the French tradition; or the School of Salamanca and the Scholastic's who debunked the idea of a just price - based in a theoretical corpus of Natural Law (like Rothbard himself).

There are some who have taken the whole book out of context by reading only his treatment of Adam Smith - mostly because this is the most controversial section. Without context, Rothbard chapter on Smith seems to be harsh for those who consider him a great defender of liberty and lassie faire. Yet, to me, he sufficiently backs his libertarian case against Smith - as those who have actually looked into the Wealth of Nations can attest (the contradiction in Book 1 and 5 is most apparent in his description of the division of labor on one hand and alienation on the other). In fact, he continues Joseph Schumpeter's famous assessment of `das AdamSmith' problem (Schumpeter argues that Smith, in the Wealth of Nations is just carrying on a physiocrat position in `Economic Doctrine and Method'); which has plagued economic thought by misplacing an emphasis on one man as the intellectual godfather while belittling outstanding prefigures like Turgot and Cantillon, the Scholastics and post-figures such as Senior, Bastiat and Say.

It is not that Rothbard means to tear Smith's whole doctrine asunder. Rothbard admits freely that Smith was important up to a point, yet was bereft in his defense of liberty. Hence Smith doesn't measure up to his `hardcore' liberal French counterparts - for instance Turgot or Say. Rothbard illustrates this in the American tradition by quoting Thomas Jefferson as having admiration and preference for De Tracy and J.S. Say instead of Adam Smith.

A mild warning - although the book is an exhilarating history of ideas, some of the finer points may be difficult or perhaps too technical for a layman. Rothbard has particular detailed points on theoretical economic issues. (Which makes me question the familiar charge about Rothbard retreating from Economics during the 1970's - as this book was written in the 1980's) He spends some space analyzing the differences in the theory of price (between Mill, Ricardo, Smith and the French School), interest and other lengthy sections (roughly 3 chapters of the second book) on monetary theory.

In light of the 20th century textbook analysis dominated by the neo-classical tradition in the micro sphere and Keynesianism in the macro sphere, Rothbard seeks to carve out and correct misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the classics and its development into the strains of these modern ideas - evaluating them by his own Austrian standard (see Rothbard's Man, Economy and State and Human Action by L. von Mises). Yet, Rothbard is not intentionally setting up historical economists as straw men, but to show that they were pioneers - some with clearer insight than others. In effect, he shows that some economics has gotten better while other have gotten worse.

Although this book is aimed at understanding economics, these two volumes also show the depth of Rothbard as an intellectual, religious and political historian as well. Again, this work ought to be disquieting to those scholars who continually discounted Rothbard. It is this painstaking argumentation which feeds directly into his thesis and makes the work sparkle; providing relevance to the questions which still persist today and will be here tomorrow.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rothbard's Triumphant Master Work, April 18, 2008

By 

anarchteacher (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 Vol. Set) (Hardcover)

The product of a lifetime of dedicated scholarship, this is Rothbard's magnum opus.

Volume one is a breathtaking journey through time, analyzing how culture, religion, and politics have impacted upon economic thought.

Volume two contains the most devastating refutation and trenchant analysis of Karl Marx and his destructive, apocalyptic theory of Communism."

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant work, May 16, 2006

By 

Ian Mackechnie - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought (2 Vol. Set) (Hardcover)

I borrowed this work from my local university library and read it through TWICE! I am now about to order this new affordable set published by the Mises Institute so that I can not only read it through again but have as a constant source of reference. A brilliant work!