The Ludwig von Mises Institute dedicates this volume to all of its generous donors and wishes to thank these Patrons, in particular:

Anonymous

Reed W. Mower

Ramallo Pallast Wakefield & Partner;
Douglas French and Deanna Forbush; Hugh E. Ledbetter;
Mr. and Mrs. R. Nelson Nash; Jule R. Herbert, Jr.; Richard Moss

To my mentors, Ludwig von Mises and Joseph Dorfman

As the subtitle declares, this work is an overall history of economic thought from a frankly ‘Austrian’ standpoint: that is, from the point of view of an adherent of the ‘Austrian School’ of economics.

These volumes were directly inspired by Mark Skousen, of Rollins College, Florida, who urged me to write a history of economic thought from an Austrian perspective. In addition to providing the spark, Skousen persuaded the Institute for Political Economy to support my research during its first academic year. Mark first envisioned the work as a standard Smith-to-the-present moderately sized book, a sort of contra-Heilbroner.

1.1  The Smithian conquest of France

1.2  Say, de Tracy and Jefferson

1.3  The influence of Say’s Traité

1.4  The method of praxeology

1.5  Utility, productivity and distribution

1.6  The entrepreneur

1.7  Say’s law of markets

1.8  Recession and the storm over Say’s law

1.9  The theory of money

1.10  The state and taxation

1.1   The Smithian conquest of France

One of the great puzzles in the history of economic thought, as we have indicated, in Volume 1, is why Adam Smith was able to sweep the field and enjoy the reputation of ‘founder of economic science’ when Cantillon and Turgot had been far superior, both as technical economic analysts and as champions of laissez-faire. The mystery is particularly acute for France, since in Britain the only schools competing with the Smithians were the mercantilists and the political arithmeticians.

2.1  From laissez-faire to statism

2.2  Personal utilitarianism

2.3  Social utilitarianism

2.4  Big brother: the panopticon

2.5  Notes

2.1   From laissez-faire to statism

Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) began as a devoted Smithian but more consistently attached to laissez-faire. During his relatively brief span of interest in economics, he became more and more statist. His intensified statism was merely one aspect of his major – and highly unfortunate – contribution to economics: his consistent philosophical utilitarianism. This contribution, which opens a broad sluice-gate for state despotism, still remains as Bentham’s legacy to contemporary neoclassical economics.

3.1  James Mill, the radicals’ Lenin

3.2  Mill and libertarian class analysis

3.3  Mill and the Ricardian system

3.4  Ricardo and the Ricardian system, I: macro-income distribution

3.5  Ricardo and the Ricardian system, II: the theory of value

3.6  The law of comparative advantage

3.7  Notes