Lionel Robbins's now famous lectures on the history of economic thought comprise one of the greatest accounts since World War II of the evolution of economic ideas. This volume represents the first time those lectures have been published. Lord Robbins (1898-1984) was a remarkably accomplished thinker, writer, and public figure. He made important contributions to economic theory, methodology, and policy analysis, directed the economic section of Winston Churchill's War Cabinet, and served as chairman of the Financial Times. As a historian of economic ideas, he ranks with Joseph Schumpeter and Jacob Viner as one of the foremost scholars of the century. These lectures, delivered at the London School of Economics between 1979 and 1981 and tape-recorded by Robbins's grandson, display his mastery of the intellectual history of economics, his infectious enthusiasm for the subject, and his eloquence and incisive wit. They cover a broad chronological range, beginning with Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas, focusing extensively on Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus and the classicals, and finishing with a discussion of moderns and marginalists from Marx to Alfred Marshall. Robbins takes a varied and inclusive approach to intellectual history. As he says in his first lecture: "I shall go my own sweet way--sometimes talk about doctrine, sometimes talk about persons, sometimes talk about periods." The lectures are united by Robbins's conviction that it is impossible to understand adequately contemporary institutions and social sciences without understanding the ideas behind their development. Authoritative yet accessible, combining the immediacy of the spoken word with Robbins's exceptional talent for clear, well-organized exposition, this volume will be welcomed by anyone interested in the intellectual origins of the modern world.

This unique troika of Handbooks provides indispensable coverage of the history of economic analysis. Edited by two of the foremost academics in the field, the volumes gather together insightful and original contributions from scholars across the world. The encyclopaedic breadth and scope of the original entries will make these Handbooks an invaluable source of knowledge for all serious students and scholars of the history of economic thought.

Written over fifty years ago, History and Historians of Political Economy is now being published for the first time. John Maynard Keynes, after reading the manuscript, called Stark “one of the most learned men on these matters that I have ever come across.” Its publication is an important event in the study of the history of social ideas, particularly economic ideas. Werner Stark's most significant contribution to scholarship is his extensive work in the sociology of knowledge. In this volume, he reveals his parallel analysis of the history of economic thought, highlighting the paramount influence of social and historical factors. The themes of Stark's work are extraordinarily contemporary. He discusses economic historiography and the rational reconstruction method, issues that continue to be debated today. History and Historians of Political Economy is divided into two parts. The first section explains the beginnings of the history of economic thought as well as the theoretical and historical approaches towards the subject. The second section examines the relationship between phenomena and the explanation of phenomena theory. Stark illuminates the insights and limitations of the various approaches of study to the history of economic thought by analyzing the works of Eugen Dühring, Wilhelm Roscher, Karl Marx, Joseph Schumpeter, and many other prominent scholars. History and Historians of Political Economy is of significant value to the studies of economics and sociology. Stark's book raises a number of critical questions: How should past theories be understood and explained? What is the relationship between ideas and events? Do economic theories reflect universal truths or relative ones? These issues are as unsettled today as when originally presented. History and Historians of Political Economy is an essential addition to the libraries of economists, political theorists, sociologists, and historians of ideas.

Examines the origin and early development of the classical theory of distribution up to 1767, stressing the concept of economic `surplus' as a key determinant of economic phenomena.

F. A. Hayek’s long-overlooked volume, was his most detailed work in economic theory. Originally published in 1941 when fashionable economic thought had shifted to John Maynard Keynes, Hayek’s manifesto of capital theory is now available again for today’s students and economists to discover. With a new introduction by Hayek expert Lawrence H. White, who firmly situates the book not only in historical and theoretical context but within Hayek’s own life and his struggle to complete the manuscript, this edition commemorates the celebrated scholar’s last major work in economics. Offering a detailed account of the equilibrium relationships between inputs and outputs in an economy, Hayek’s stated objective was to make capital theory "useful for the analysis of the monetary phenomena of the real world.” His ambitious goal was nothing less than to develop a capital theory that could be fully integrated into the business cycle theory.