----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- The original question which started this thread asked about surveys of welfare economics from Adam Smith onwards. The answers all seem to relate to relatively recent periods. This is understandable because welfare economics has only existed under that name and in something like its modern form since the late nineteenth century, but there is still an interesting question about the earlier antecedents of welfare economics. Offhand I dont know of any comprehensive survey. One way to trace relevant ideas back to earlier periods would be to look at untilitarianism back to Bentham and earlier, since this is surely where modern welfare economics came from. There is a big literature about this. Another way would be to look at writers like Adam Smith and ask what they said about what was good for individuals and for society, since these are, I guess, the basic questions welfare economics has to address. Tony Brewer ([log in to unmask]) ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]