THE
QUARTERLY JOURNAL
OF
ECONOMICS
MAY, 1900
PETTY'S PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THEORY.
The economic and statistical writings of Sir William Petty (1623-1687) are only a fraction of the total output of his diligent pen. Still their bulk is as great as that of Ricardo's Principles and nearly twice that of Menger's Grundsätze.[1] To give an exhaustive account of them in the pages of this Journal is, therefore, impracticable. Lack of space equally with lack of knowledge precludes likewise the indication here of all the actual or possible relations between them and the writings of later economists. This is, however, by no means a ground for unmixed regret. Laborious disentanglement of the course of thought concerning this or that economic problem has, no doubt, its usefulness. But the value of such elaborate Dogmengeschichte as has been produced by Zuckerkandl[2]
- ↑ The original pamphlets have become scarce. They are reprinted in The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, together with the Observations upon the Bills of Mortality, more probably by Captain John Graunt. Edited by C. H. Hull. Cambridge: at the University Press. 1899. 2 vols., 8vo.
- ↑ Zur Theorie des Preises, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der geschichtlichen Entwickelung der Lehre, 1889.
