This book provides a detailed intellectual and critical history of the economy, explaining how the economy came to be analytically separated from its social and political moorings in the 19th century. It offers a historical perspective on current IPE concerns, and links IPE with the growing field of contextualist intellectual history.

Introduction Part 1: Context 1. Counsellors to Government 2. Genres of Counsel and the Administrative State Part 2: Counsel on Trade 3. The State's Strength and Wealth 4. Strength, Wealth, and State Rivalry Part 3: Political Economy 5. Smith and the Economy 6. Smith and the International Economy 7. Ricardo and the National Economy 8. Ricardo and the International Economy. Conclusion

Ryan Walter is Lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University. His research interests focus on the history of economic and political thought.