An Outline of International Price Theories
An Outline Of International Price Theories
By
CHI-YUEN WU
Ph.D. (Econ.)
With an Introduction by
PROFESSOR LIONEL ROBBINS
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LTD.
BROADWAY HOUSE: 68-74 CARTER LANE, E.C.
LVMI
First published 1939
First published 1939
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS. LTD.. HERTFORD
Digital edition June 2013 by the Ludwig von Mises Institute
In preparing this digital edition typos were corrected and in some cases spelling was standardized.
ISBN: 978-1-61016-045-2
eISBN: 978-1-61016-619-5
Acknowledgment
This essay, which has been approved by the University of London for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, was prepared by me under the supervision and with the constant help of Professor Lionel Robbins during the years 1935 and 1936. I am indebted to him, firstly, for direction of the large amount of research work which was required, and secondly, for ideas and guidance in the planning and preparation of the essay.
Preface
The history of economic thought has a twofold function; to explain the past and to help us to understand the present. By examining the economic theories of the past we can learn to see the problems of earlier times, as it were, through the eyes of their contemporaries. By comparing them with the theories of the present we can realize better the implications and the limitations of the knowledge of our own day.
An Outline Of International Price Theories
I. Introduction
INTRODUCTION
1. In this essay we intend to give a general survey of the historical development of the theory of international price relationships.
II. The Mercantilistic Theories
THE MERCANTILISTIC THEORIES
1. Mercantilism
In order to trace the origin of the theory of international price relationships we are forced to go as far back as the sixteenth century. From about the year 1500 there were many important political and economic changes. The oversea discoveries in the last decades of the fifteenth century had widened the boundaries of international trade and had given rise to a change in its nature and an expansion of its volume.
III. From David Hume to J. S. Mill: The Development of the Classical Theories
FROM DAVID HUME TO J. S. MILL: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CLASSICAL THEORIES
1. David Hume
While mercantilism was popular in the period described in the preceding chapter, in the latter half of the eighteenth century it gradually came to be considered as a hindrance to economic progress. About the year 1750 many of the mercantilist doctrines were criticized and new systems of thought were advanced in their stead.
