Description:

The appearance of the famous (and massive) volumes of Rothbard's History of Economic Thought in a new edition is cause for great celebration. They have been out of print for many years, and were previously only available at a price exceeding $200 for the set. They are at last accessible again, in beautiful hardcover, and at an affordable price.

In Economic Thought Before Adam Smith (volume 1 of An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought), Murray Rothbard traces economic ideas from ancient sources to show that laissez-faire liberalism and economic thought itself began with the Scholastics and early Roman, Greek, and canon law. He celebrates Aristotle and Democritus, for example, but loathes Plato and Diogenes. He is kind toward Taoism and Stoicism. He is no fan of Tertullian but very much likes St. Jerome, who defended the merchant class. Now, that takes us only to page 33, just the beginning of a wild ride through the Middle Ages and Renaissance and modern times through 1870.

Rothbard's History of Economic Thought is indeed the history that Ludwig von Mises himself longed to "A real history of economic thought," he said in 1955, "would have to point out the development of the doctrines and not merely list every book."

When these volumes first appeared, they were celebrated in Barron's and by top scholars around the world. They succeeded in changing the way people think about economic the beginnings (not Adam Smith, but the Spanish theologians), the dead ends (Marx), the great triumphs (Bastiat, for example), and the truly great minds (Turgot and many others rescued from near obscurity).

Rothbard read deeply in thinkers dating back hundreds and thousands of years, and spotted every promising line of thought -- and every unfortunate one. He knew when an idea would lead to prosperity, and when it would lead to calamity. He could spot a proto-Keynesian or proto-Marxist idea in the Middle Ages, just as he could find free-market lines of thought in ancient manuscripts.

Many scholars believe this Rothbard's his most important work. The irony is that it is not the work it was supposed to be, and thank goodness. He was asked to do a short overview of the modern era. He ended up writing more than 1,000 pages of original ideas that remade the whole of intellectual history up through the late 19th century.

Rothbard was a pioneer in incorporating the sociology of religion into the history of economic ideas. He saw that the advent of Christianity had a huge impact on the theory of the state. He observed the rise of absolutism and theory of nationalism that came with the Reformation. He traced the changes in the Western view toward lending and interest payments over the course of a thousand years.

The number of insights in this volume is countless. Every page, every paragraph, bursts with intellectual energy and the author's fiery passion to tell the reader the remarkable story of economics. Many reviewers have remarked that Rothbard's accomplishment seems superhuman. He seems to have read everything. His originality is overwhelming. His passion for liberty and integrity in science is evident. His disdain toward those who sell out to the state is manifest as well.

This book is a monument to Rothbard's genius, a resource that will be valuable to intellectuals for generations -- and a great read too!

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