Economic Thought Before Adam Smith: An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, 2 vols.

• Author: Thornton, Mark

The claims grow increasing implausible, but the economics profession continues to preen its image as a "hard science" like physics or chemistry. Formalism, positivism, and econometrics are extolled and venerated, while the study of the history of economic thought is denigrated and displaced from graduate studies.

As a traditionalist of the Austrian school of economic analysis, I hope that the publication of Murray N. Rothbard's two-volume treatise marks the beginning of the end of this unfortunate state of professional orthodoxy. More than a historian of thought, and more than an economist, Rothbard was responsible for the survival and rebirth of Austrian economics in the post-Mises period, while his theory of political economy gave birth to the modern libertarian movement. These works, in many ways the culimination of a lifetime of study, appeared about the time of Rothbard's death on January 7, 1995.

Rothbard's treatise makes a good case for the study of economic thought and provides a good introduction to Austrian economics by showing its links with earlier thinkers. Every reader will discover material to raise hackles, but friend and foe alike will benefit from Rothbard's atypical approach. His discussions of every thinker are enriched with insights on philosophy, history, religion, political movements, and the philosophy of science. The two volumes are jam-packed with information and research ideas.

This is the first comprehensive treatment of classical and preclassical economics from an Austrian perspective since Joseph Schumpeter's History of Economic Analysis. A third planned volume on the neo-classical period will be completed by Rothbard's student, Joseph Salerno, who will also now serve as a co-editor for Rothbard's journals, the Journal of Libertarian Studies and the Review of Austrian Economics.

There are some notable differences and similarities with Schumpeter beyond the uncompleted status of both projects. As Austrian economists, both emphasized theory and method - Schumpeter gravitated to Walras and technical analysis, while Rothbard became the leading proponent of Ludwig yon Mises' praxeological method with its deductive method and its insistence that the basic tools of economic analysis are applicable to all areas of human action.

Schumpeter paid much attention to the development of the rudimentary elements of technical economics, which Rothbard considers unimportant, if not disruptive and harmful. Rothbard demonstrates...