The Journal of Libertarian Studies

Home | Mises Library | Comment on the French Liberal School

Comment on the French Liberal School

The Journal of Libertarian Studies

Tags Austrian Economics OverviewOther Schools of ThoughtPhilosophy and Methodology

07/30/2014Joseph T. Salerno

There exists today in Anglo-American economics a veritable "conspiracy of silence" regarding the works and achievements of the French Liberal School of Economics. This is at once a sad commentary on the state of disinterested historical scholarship in the economics profession and a resounding confirmation of Thomas Kuhn's theory of scientific progress and its applicability to the social sciences. Needless to say, one does not undermine the "conspiracy" merely by displaying familiarity with Say's Law of Markets in the course of extolling the achievements of John Maynard Keynes; nor even by giving a tolerable rendition of Bastiat's "Petition of the Candlemakers" to a class of undergraduates, accompanied, of course, by the caveat that it does not apply to the "infant industry" case. Let us, then, breach the "conspiracy" forthwith and wholeheartedly by setting the School in historical perspective and noting its most prominent members.

Volume 2, Number 1 (1978)

Author:

Contact Joseph T. Salerno

Joseph Salerno is academic vice president of the Mises Institute, professor emeritus of economics at Pace University, and editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.

 

Cite This Article

Salerno, Joseph T. "Comment on the French Liberal School." Journal of Libertarian Studies 2, No.1 (1978): 65-68.