- Paperback: 1320 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Revised edition (7 Mar 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195105591
- ISBN-13: 978-0195105599
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.5 x 9.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,662,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
History of Economic Analysis
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Product Description
At the time of his death in 1950, Joseph Schumpeter - one of the great economists and thinkers of the first half of the 20th century - was working on his "History of Economic Analysis". A complete history of man's theoretical efforts from the time of ancient Greece through the present to understand economic phenomena, the volume is an important contribution to the history of ideas as well as to economics. Schumpeter was a historian, social scientist, philosopher, psychologist, and mathematician as well as an economist, and the multidisciplinary contents of this book reveal the great scope of his project. Topics discussed include: the techniques of economic analysis, contemporaneous developments in other sciences, and the sociology of economics; economic writings from Plato and Aristotle up through the time of Adam Smith, including the medieval scholastics and natural-law philosophers; the work of Malthus, Mill, Ricardo, Marx, and the important European economists; and the history, sociology, psychology, and economics of the period from 1879 to 1914.
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BY HISTORY of Economic Analysis I mean the history of the intellectual efforts that men have made in order to understand economic phenomena or, which comes to the same thing, the history of the analytic or scientific aspects of economic thought. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
BY HISTORY of Economic Analysis I mean the history of the intellectual efforts that men have made in order to understand economic phenomena or, which comes to the same thing, the history of the analytic or scientific aspects of economic thought. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950) was an Austrian economist, whose book Economic Doctrine and Method was published in 1914, and was widely regarded as the best outline of the history of the development of economics. A decade or so before his death, Schumpeter embarked on a major revision of that book, which eventually grew into this massive tome of over 1,000 pages. Even then it was not finished, and much of it was still in first drafts when he died. His widow undertook to prepare the book for publication, and after her death Schumpeter's students completed this task.
Schumpeter undertook massive original research into long-forgotten as well as the more well-known economic tracts, pamphlets and books dating from the beginning of the serious study of economics in Graeco-Roman times down to the twentieth century. One of the strengths of the book is that it does not define 'economic analysis' only to those of economists proper; politicians who had a considerable impact in implementing economic policies are, sensibly, explored. The analysis of William Ewart Gladstone is a masterpiece of condensation of that great Chancellor's policies (pp. 402-405).
One does not have to accept all of Schumpeter's rather idiosyncratic judgments, such as his rating of Turgot's Reflections higher than Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (p. 248), to acknowledge that this is the best survey of the history of economic theory to appear. Schumpeter does not usually let his personal judgments prevent a fair treatment of economists he plainly disagrees with. Schumpeter's writing is engaging and demonstrates a mastery of the English language, which is crucial in a study of so complicated a subject. This is all the more impressive when we realise that English was not Schumpeter's first language.
A short review cannot do justice to this massive work. As a starting point for discovering past economists, it has no superiors. Its judgments and evaluations are not, however, the last word; it should stimulate the reader to delve further.
Schumpeter undertook massive original research into long-forgotten as well as the more well-known economic tracts, pamphlets and books dating from the beginning of the serious study of economics in Graeco-Roman times down to the twentieth century. One of the strengths of the book is that it does not define 'economic analysis' only to those of economists proper; politicians who had a considerable impact in implementing economic policies are, sensibly, explored. The analysis of William Ewart Gladstone is a masterpiece of condensation of that great Chancellor's policies (pp. 402-405).
One does not have to accept all of Schumpeter's rather idiosyncratic judgments, such as his rating of Turgot's Reflections higher than Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations (p. 248), to acknowledge that this is the best survey of the history of economic theory to appear. Schumpeter does not usually let his personal judgments prevent a fair treatment of economists he plainly disagrees with. Schumpeter's writing is engaging and demonstrates a mastery of the English language, which is crucial in a study of so complicated a subject. This is all the more impressive when we realise that English was not Schumpeter's first language.
A short review cannot do justice to this massive work. As a starting point for discovering past economists, it has no superiors. Its judgments and evaluations are not, however, the last word; it should stimulate the reader to delve further.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5 reviews
51 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Complex and Sophisticated History of Economic Theory
18 Nov 2000
Format:Paperback
The legendary History of Economic Analysis is without a doubt one of the greatest books of economic history ever written, but one should examine what kind of reading they're looking for before he or she embarks on this thousand page text. Schumpeter's unfinished history is divided into sections by ideology and time-period which is particularly useful but once you penetrate the well-organized table of contents, the writing becomes arcane and complex.
For a reader well-grounded in economic theory and history, I am sure that this is a bible; but for a curious reader interested in the history of economics (in a more political as opposed to theoretical perspective) this book may not be right. Highly footnoted and not very smooth writing, as well as obscure references to economists and theories results in a history that is very demanding of the reader. If you are looking for an economic history text that reads like From Dawn to Decadence you may be seriously disappointed, as I had been, but if you are a serious student of economics and are willing to spend the time to deliberate over Schumpeter's words then History of Economic Analysis is right for you.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
THE masterpiece in history of economic thought
20 April 2000
Format:Paperback
After the considerable success of his then only in germanpublished Little Sketch of Doctrines and Methods, and while he wasteaching at Harvard, Schumpeter started working on a book wich would cover the ground of Little Sketch an beyond. What began just as leisure would become THE masterpiece in History of Economic Thought. Schumpeter spent ten years in this colossal effort and unfortunately did not finish it before his death. Nevertheless, nowhere else you will find a book more powerful and more profound on this theme. By History of Economic Analysis Schumpeter means the history of efforts made in the pursuit of comprehending economic phenomena, from Antiquity to present; not a book on history of ideologies. Schumpeter places the authors in their times and contexts, and tries to understand how they proceeded in analysing economic reality. A must for anyone interested in economic theory, history and philosophy.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
The beginnings of economic concepts in full detail
10 Nov 2003
Format:Paperback
The objective of Schumpeter, one of the greatest economists of all times, is to portray in a very comprehensive detail, all the philosophical thinking that conduced to contemporary Economic Analisys, since the beginning of the ancient greek thought.
To me, that had a very great misconception about the works of Joseph Alois Schumpeter, this book was a revelation, be it for the immensity of his erudiction both as an historian, philosopher and economist, be it for the ingenuity in which he presents many new ideas and perspectives regarding economic analisys.
To me, that had a very great misconception about the works of Joseph Alois Schumpeter, this book was a revelation, be it for the immensity of his erudiction both as an historian, philosopher and economist, be it for the ingenuity in which he presents many new ideas and perspectives regarding economic analisys.
He is sometimes difficult to follow, not helped by the many and extensive footnotes he appends the book with, and by the many quotations he does in foreign languages, which he usually do not translate, be it in ancient Greek, Latin , French or German. Also , the book was unfinished in his lifetime and had to be edited by his wife, who was also deceased before the full completion of the giantic task. Even so, the book has some 1.300 pages and covers the full range of all the relevant economic thougth until the time of its publication.
A warning sign of caution must be addressed to the non-professional readers not not fully interested in the magnitude of such a scope, that is, of addressing the formative ideas of each and every important concept in economic analisys in a so complete way. This can be an overkill for you. But if you are interested in Medieval thought, the concepts exposed by , for instance, Saint Thomas and many others, this is a very good reading. Enjoy it
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