Bertram Schefold is renowned for his distinctive approach to the history of economic thought. This book brings together commentaries from his series "Klassiker der Nationalökonomie" (Classics of Economics), which have been translated into English for the first time. Schefold's choice of authors for the series, which he has edited since 1991, and his comments on the various re-edited works are proof of his highly original and thought-provoking interpretation of the history of economic thought. This seminal volume shows that study of the history of economic thought should be explored far beyond its most widely known figures.

This selection focuses on notable, but neglected writers, localising the beginning of economic science not with Adam Smith, but with the moral question of usury and the good life in Antiquity. The volume takes a global perspective, with its coverage including the German Historical School, mercantilist Spain and Arab and Asian classics of economic thought.

This book will give the reader a far broader view of economics than has previously been available, and is written with the aim of achieving a universal history of the subject. The volume is suitable for those who are interested in and study history of economic thought as well as economic theory and philosophy.

Introduction 1. Antiquity 1.1 Xenophon's "Oikonomikos": The Beginning of an Economic Science? 1.2 Aristotle: The Classical Thinker of Ancient Economic Theory 1.3 Cicero's "De Officiis": The Moral Duties of Mankind 2. Middle Ages and Scholasticism 2.1 Nicholas Oresme: Monetary Theory in the Late Medieval Era 2.2 Economy and Money in the Age of Reformation 2.3 Leonard Lessius: From the Practical Virtue of Justice to Economic Theory 3. Mercantilism 3.1 Spanish Economic Thought at the Dawn of the Modern Era 3.2 Antonio Serra: The Founder of Economic Theory? 3.3 Jacques Savary's "Parfait négociant": The Organization of Markets by Merchants and the State 3.4 Philipp Wilhelm von Hörnigk: "Austria Above All, if She Only so Wishes" 3.5 William Petty's "Political Arithmetick" 3.6 Justi's "Grundsaetze der Policey-Wissenschaft" [Principles of the Science of Police]: Happiness and Economics 3.7 The Connection Between Theory, History and Policy in James Steuart's "Principles" 4. Historical School, Old and Young 4.1 Bruno Hildebrand: The Historical Perspective of a Liberal Economist" 4.2 Wilhelm Roscher's "Perspectives on the Economy from a Historical Standpoint 4.3 Hans von Mangoldt's: "Grundriss der Volkswirtschaftslehre" 4.4 Karl Knies' "Das Geld" [Money] 4.5 Wilhelm Roscher's "Geschichte der National-Oekonomik in Deutschland" [The History of Economics in Germany] 4.6 Adolph Wagner's "Grundlegung" [Foundation] 4.7 Wilhelm Launhardt's "Mathematische Begruendung der Volkswirtschaftslehre" [The Mathematical Foundation of Economic Theory] 4.8 Max Weber's "Protestant Ethic" as an Inquiry into Economics 5. Asian Classics 5.1 Asian Classics in a Western Collection of the History of Economic Thought 5.2 Ibn Khaldun's Socio-Economic Synthesis: Rise and Fall in Economic Development

Bertram Schefold is Professor of Economics at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany.