SHOE Archives

Societies for the History of Economics

SHOE@YORKU.CA

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Reply To:
Societies for the History of Economics <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 24 Sep 2021 04:54:21 -0400
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (12 lines)
Dear Chen

A personal (and myopically British) view, but to me your question does not really make sense prior to the 20th century.  

Bacon, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Mill all wrote extensively on economic matters, but surely as part of an all embracing grasping for the whole of human understanding.  And to ask if Locke influenced policy making is a bit like asking if the Pope is catholic.  Adam Smith stepped back only a little from that approach, again with massive political influence.

The assumed compartmentalisation in your question seems to me more a 20th century development, and even that only skin deep.  Keynes did extended a whole world view but in good part by proxy, in his patronage of Wittgenstein.  Hayek likewise extended a whole world view by proxy, in his patronage of Popper.  These are doubt controversial positions, which I will gladly discuss further with anyone who has read the relevant biographies (Skidelsky, Hacohen, Monk etc).  Helmut Schmidt deferred somewhat to Popper ideologically etc etc etc.

I suspect your focus differs - being on ‘microthought’ rather then ‘macrothought’.  But I hope this comment is of some use all the same 

Rob Tye

ATOM RSS1 RSS2