scholarly journals Bernard Mandeville and the 'economy' of the Dutch

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Bick
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Scottish Enlightenment ◽  
Glorious Revolution ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
The Glorious Revolution ◽  
Dutch History ◽  
Bernard Mandeville

Studies of Bernard Mandeville by economists and historians of economic thought have focused overwhelmingly on the problem of situating his work within the development of the theory of laissez-faire and evaluating his influence on major figures in the Scottish Enlightenment, especially Adam Smith. This paper explores Mandeville's economic thought through the lens of a very different transition: England's rapid growth following the Glorious Revolution and its gradual eclipse of Dutch economic hegemony. By situating Mandeville within an Anglo-Dutch context and carefully examining his comments on the Dutch in Remark Q of The fable of the bees, the paper shows the manner in which Mandeville's ideas both appropriated lessons from Dutch history and sought to revise ideas about the Dutch current among his English contemporaries. The paper thus sheds new light on core concepts in Mandeville's economic thought and permits exploration of an important moment in the development of political economy.

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INCLUSION: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE WORKHOUSE SYSTEM

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cosma Orsi
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
David Hume ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
The Political ◽  
George Berkeley ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
The Social ◽  
Policy Shift ◽  
The Rose

The aim of this article is to describe the rise and fall of the workhouse system in connection with the developments that took place in economic thought in the transition from mercantilism to the Classical tradition. By examining the economic debate about wages, efficiency, labor market, workers’ mobility, and unemployment, we discuss whether the social policy shift epitomized by institutional reforms like the Gilbert Act (1782), the Rose Act (1793), and the Speenhamland system (1795) was accompanied and eventually inspired by a change in the perception of major political economy issues. In doing so, we review the writings of Jacob Vanderlint (d. 1740), George Berkeley (1685–1753), Malachy Postlethwayt (1707?–1767), Josiah Tucker (1713–1799), David Hume (1711–1776), and Adam Smith (1723-1790), among others. Although a direct influence by these writers cannot be proven, the originality of the present work rests on the effort to put into perspective the arguments elaborated by economic thinkers and the proposals made by social reformers so as to identify possible connections between economic theorizing and social legislation.

The Influence of Scottish Enlightenment on Darwin's Theory of Cultural Evolution

2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Marciano ◽  
Maud Pelissier
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Spontaneous Order ◽  
Modern Theory ◽  
Scottish Enlightenment ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Theory Of Evolution

Since the 1980s, institutional change has become a matter of great interest as economists faced the necessity and the challenge to provide a theory of economic or cultural evolution. Their first reaction was to refer to biology, a field in which theories of evolution have reached a high degree of sophistication. This was all the more legitimate and relevant given that biology has been largely influenced by economics (Schweber 1977, 1980; Gordon 1991; Kresge and Wenar 1994; Depew and Weber 1995). Indeed, the influence of classical political economy on the views of one of the fathers of the modern theory of evolution, Charles Darwin, is widely admitted. Darwin borrowed from economists fundamental ideas such as spontaneous order and methodological individualism (from Adam Smith), the positive role of diversity and variety (from Charles Babbage) and the concept of the struggle for life (from Thomas Malthus). Therefore, the ideas promoted by the founding fathers of political economy, sometimes called “Darwinians before Darwin” (Hayek 1973, p. 23), have shaped Darwin's theory of biological evolution.

scholarly journals MORAL CULTURE AND HISTORICAL PROGRESS IN THE SCOTTISH ENLIGHTENMENT

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 993-1005
Author(s):  
STEWART J. BROWN
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
David Hume ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Scottish Enlightenment ◽  
Historical Writing ◽  
The Subject ◽  
William Robertson ◽  
Joseph Black

We continue to be intrigued by the Scottish Enlightenment. How was it that a relatively remote country on the geographical periphery of Europe—with a harsh climate, a largely mountainous terrain, a strict Calvinist creed, a small population and a history of civil strife—emerged in the 1740s as a “hotbed of genius” and a center of the European Enlightenment? The subject, to be sure, has been well studied. There is an immense literature and it can seem that there is little new to be said. Indeed, it may be, as the eminent historian Colin Kidd has observed in this journal, that “the very concept of the ‘Scottish Enlightenment’ has become a stale historiographical commonplace.” And yet the subject continues to intrigue, continues to attract scholars from a variety of disciplines. For something extraordinary happened in eighteenth-century Scotland. Simply to list some of the names cannot fail to impress: David Hume in philosophy and historical writing, Frances Hutcheson in moral philosophy, Adam Smith in moral philosophy and economic thought, Adam Ferguson in social thought, Thomas Reid in philosophy, William Robertson in historical writing, Hugh Blair in rhetoric and literary studies, James Hutton in geology, and Joseph Black in chemistry. The achievements of the Scottish Enlightenment were immense; its world influence has been enduring. And at its heart was the study of moral philosophy and of the moral progress of humankind.

The Macroeconomic thought of Sir William Petty

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Ullmer
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Total Employment ◽  
Classical Political Economy ◽  
Surplus Labour ◽  
P 16

Sir William Petty (1623–1687) is generally known to historians of economic thought as an early contributor to classical political economy. In fact, Karl Marx claimed—rightly, I believe—that Petty was the founder of that school of thought (Marx 1867, p. 81). Frank Amati and Tony Aspromourgos echo the sentiment that Petty, and not Adam Smith, was “the founder of classical political economy, that school which had its culmination in the Ricardian economic theory” (Amati and Aspromourgos 1985, p. 127). Aspromourgos has also observed that Petty wrote A Treatise of Taxes and Contributions, as well as other works, in order to provide “an answer to the questions of how to maximize total employment and surplus labour, and how to best utilize surplus labour” (Aspromourgos 1996, p. 16, emphasis added).

Elevating Competition: Classical Political Economy in Justice Peckham’s Jurisprudence

2017 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-370
Author(s):  
Nicola Giocoli
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Court Of Appeals ◽  
Freedom Of Contract ◽  
Classical Political Economy ◽  
Constitutional Right

Abstract This paper deals with the famous Lochner v. New York (1905) decision from the perspective of the history of economic thought. In »Lochner« the Supreme Court affirmed freedom of contract as a substantive constitutional right. It is argued that, in writing for the majority, Justice Rufus W. Peckham was heavily influenced by classical political economy. Not, however, in the trivial sense of endorsing pure laissez faire, but in the deeper sense of applying Adam Smith’s recipe for building a “system of natural liberty”, viz., a social order founded on justice, private property, and free competition. My interpretation is validated by looking at the economic content of Peckham’s jurisprudence as a judge in the New York Court of Appeals. JEL Codes: B12, K21, L40

scholarly journals Retrospectives: Hume on Money, Commerce, and the Science of Economics

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 217-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Schabas ◽  
Carl Wennerlind
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
David Hume ◽  
English Language ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Monetary Economics ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
The Political ◽  
Commercial System ◽  
Political Discourses

David Hume (1711–1776) is arguably the most esteemed philosopher to have written in the English language. During his lifetime, however, Hume was as well if not better known for his contributions to political economy, particularly for the essays published as the Political Discourses (1752). Hume left his mark on the economic thought of the physiocrats, the classical economists, and the American Federalists. Adam Smith, who met Hume circa 1750, was his closest friend and interlocutor for some 25 years. Among modern economists, Hume's essays on money and trade have informed theorists of both Keynesian and Monetarist persuasions. In this essay, we begin by discussing Hume's monetary economics, and then spell out his theory of economic development, noting his qualified enthusiasm for the modern commercial system. We end with an assessment of his views on the scientific standing of economics, specifically his counterintuitive argument that economics could be epistemologically superior to physics.

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