histofthought1

502 Economic thought before Adam SmithThe most unfortunate aspect of the total Smithian takeover in economicswas not so much his own considerable tissue of error, but even more theblotting out of knowledge of the rich tradition of economic thought that haddeveloped before Smith. As a result, the Austrians and their nineteenth centurypredecessors, largely deprived of knowledge of the pre-Smith tradition,were in many ways forced to reinvent the wheel, to painfully claw their wayback to the knowledge that many pre-Smithians had enjoyed long before.Adam Smith and the consequences of Smith is an outstanding example of theKuhnian case in the history of a science: in all too many cases, the developmentof knowledge in a discipline is not a steady continuous march upwardinto the light, patiently discarding refuted hypotheses and adding continuallyto the stock ofcumulative knowledge. But rather, the history of the disciplineis a zig-zag of great gain and loss, of advances in knowledge followed bydecay and false leads, and then by periods of attempts to recapture lostknowledge, trying often dimly and against fierce opposition, to regain paradigmslost.17.7 Notes1. A previous embodiment of the Edinburgh Review had been founded in 1755 by a group ofprominent moderate Presbyterian leaders, including Adam Smith. Only two issues appeared,however. It might be noted that Dugald Stewart was the first biographer of themain Moderate leader and founder of the first Edinburgh Review, Principal WilliamRobertson (1721-93).2. Edwin Cannan, A History (~l the Theories (~l Production and Distribution in EnglishPolitical Economy/rom 1776 to 1848 (3rd ed., London: Staples Press, 1917), pp. 110-11.3. J.A. Schumpeter, History (?f' Economic Analysis (New York: Oxford University Press,1954), p. 579.4. Alexander Gray, The Development (~fEconomic Doctrine (London: Longmans, Green andCo., 1931), pp. 163-4.5. Cannan, op. cit., note 2, p. 113.6. Schumpeter, op. cit., note 3, p. 580.7. Schumpeter, op. cit., note 3, pp. 581-2.8. Schumpeter, op. cit., note 3, p. 584.9. Albion W. Small, The Cameralists (1909; New York: Burt Franklin, n.d.), p. viii.10. Oddly enough, while calling for more money, Becher also wrote unknown works, theMoral Discurs (1669) and the Psychosophia (1678), in which he became one of theearliest communists, calling for the abolition of money. Money, Becher opined, was theprimary evil; without it, we would all be forced to work, would enjoy equal incomes, andwould therefore be happy.11. The three most influential German universities of the day were those of Gottingen, Hallein nearby Prussia, and Leipzig.12. Thus, Christian Kraus writes: 'Whenever it is a question of a law or an arrangement, bywhich men are to be brought either to do something which they previously did not do, ornot to do something which they previously did, then, in the second case, the first questionis why people did not cease of their own accord? .. Then follows the second question:What will men attempt to do in order to evade the law which conflicts with their interests?Then the third question: How far will that which they undertake in order to evade the lawsucceed? In the case of the second and third questions many striking views will be gained,which would otherwise have quite escaped us, as soon as we put ourselves entirely in theposition of these men and make their situation our own. What has here been said of