First published in English 1929, this is a reisssue of the nineteenth edition of Othmar Spann's classic history of economic thought, which is stongly influenced by the German Romantic tradition.

Spann intended the work to serve as both history of economic thought and a critique of the main theories and systems of poltical economy, analysing the basic problems of economics in the light of the evolution of economic theory. His study encapsulates everything from pre-mercantile economics through to the political economy of the early twentieth century, encompassing such diverse subjects as the physiocratic system, the development of German political economy and the evolution of socialism.

Contents

1. Economics in the Days Before the Mercantile System 2. The Mercantile System 3. Individualist Natural Right 4. An Introduction to the Basic Problem of Sociology-Individualism Versus Universalism 5. Transition to the Physiocratic System 6. The Physiocrats 7. Fully Developed Individualism, or Classical Political Economy 8. Political Economy in Germany 9. Carey’s Optimism and Its Counterparts on the Continent of Europe 10. A Short Account of the Evolution of Socialism 11. The Historical School, Social Reform, the Theory of Marginal Utility 12. Present-Day Economic Science.