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Societies for the History of Economics

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Subject:
From:
Bruce Larson <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Societies for the History of Economics <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:38:43 -0400
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Hi, Christina, many years ago I read Joseph J. 
Spengler, The Origins of Economic Thought and 
Justice (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois 
University Press, 1980) and found it to be very 
useful.  Here is the a description from Amazon:

--------

Complete with extensive bibliography, this 
copiously annotated study probes the roots of 
contemporary economic thought, focusing on the 
interaction be­tween economic and ethical thought 
and on conditions responsible for the emer­gence of orderly economic systems.

Spengler examines the basis of economic thought 
among the ancients, then looks specifically at 
Mesopotamia, India, China, and Greece. His final 
chapter is a historical consideration of 
political economy and ethics from Aris­totle to the present.

In Mesopotamia, the system of weights and 
measures and regulatory codes reinforced 
customary practice. In India the economy was 
regulated by the state, but China, except for a 
few laws regulating consumption, remained 
eco­nomically free. The Greeks, with a theory of 
natural order, contributed the idea of economic 
justice; only Greece freed itself from 
mythopoetic elements domi­nant in earlier economic thought.

--------

Spengler also wrote Indian Economic Thought: A 
Preface to Its History (Durham, North Carolina: 
Duke University Press, 1971), but I have no 
personal experience with it.  There is a review in:

Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1-2, 105-106 (1974)

Good luck with your project!

Bruce Larson

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