Routledge Studies in the History of Economics
About the Book Series
Economics continues to draw inspiration from the ideas of past economists. This series provides an arena for current debate in the study of the history of economics. Adhering to no single methodology, it includes volumes which explore the ideas of individual economists, major schools of thought, and the evolution of key ideas and theories within economic analysis.
Socialist Economics in Yugoslavia: A Critical History
1st Edition
By Marko Grdešić, Mislav Žitko
October 31, 2025
This book presents a critical history of Yugoslav socialist economics, from its inception in the late 1940s to its dissolution in the late 1980s. After the dramatic break with the Soviet Union in 1948, Yugoslavia found itself in urgent need of a third way: A socialist trajectory which would not ...
Adam Smith on the Ancients and the Moderns
1st Edition
By Gloria Vivenza
September 29, 2025
The classics heavily influenced many aspects of European modern culture, yet it is not easy to trace their intellectual power on any author. In this volume, Gloria Vivenza takes on the impressive task of examining how philosophy, history, literature, politics, and ethics all played a part in ...
Arthur Spiethoff and the German Historical School of Economics: Continuities and Discontinuities
1st Edition
By Vitantonio Gioia
September 29, 2025
Arthur Spiethoff (1873–1957), an economist of the German Historical School of Economics, is best known for his theory of the business cycle. Despite Spiethoff calling for a unified reading of his work, his epistemological thinking has received less attention. This book addresses that gap by ...
The Entrepreneur in the History of Political Economy: The Hunting for Heffalumps in the Early Economic Analysis
1st Edition
By José M. Menudo
August 15, 2025
Modern economic theory has marginalised the figure of the entrepreneur, despite their significance in economic activity. Entrepreneurs rose in prominence as economic agents during the Enlightenment, but no consensus on this issue was formed in the period. This book addresses the role of the ...
James Mill, John Stuart Mill, and the History of Economic Thought
1st Edition
Edited
By Masatomi Fujimoto, John Vint, Taro Hisamatsu
June 27, 2025
Commemorating the 250th anniversary of James Mill’s birth and the 150th of John Stuart Mill’s death, this volume analyses the Mills’ discussions on topics such as environment, cultivation, education, utilitarianism, socialism, international relations, international trade, and living standard. John ...
Léon Walras’s Economic Thought: The General Equilibrium Theory in Historical Perspective
1st Edition
By Kayoko Misaki
June 27, 2025
This book sheds new light on the general equilibrium theory of Léon Walras (1834–1910) from a historical perspective. Walras's construction of general equilibrium theory marked the dawn of modern economics, and the theory was greatly developed in the 20th century. However, Walras's own intentions ...
Adam Smith’s Theory of Value and Distribution: Economics as a Moral Science Once Again
1st Edition
By Jeffrey T. Young
May 27, 2025
Ever since the time of his early interpreters, beginning with David Hume, Adam Smith’s theory of value has been the subject of confusion and misunderstanding—including a controversy which still rages over whether Smith held a labour theory of value, and, if so, whether he held to it throughout ...
Field Experiments in Economics: History and Methodology
1st Edition
By Judith Favereau, Michiru Nagatsu
April 01, 2025
This book adopts an integrated history and philosophy of science approach to consider the historical origins and methodological pitfalls of field experiments in economics. It explains key concepts such as control and randomization and identifies two distinct origins of field experimentation in ...
J.M. Keynes and the History of Probability: The Influence of Locke, Leibniz, and Hume
1st Edition
By Francisco Javier Aristimuño
March 18, 2025
John Maynard Keynes is best known for his contributions to economics, yet he spent nearly two decades exploring the concept of probability. His extensive work culminated in A Treatise on Probability (1921), in which he developed a unique notion of probability that continues to divide scholars ...
Ricardo on the Theory of Value and Money
1st Edition
By Susumu Takenaga
December 31, 2024
This book is a renovative research work on Ricardo’s theory of value and of money, achieved through analysis of Ricardo’s original writings, made available in Sraffa’s Works. Takenaga argues that Ricardo’s economic theory should be understood as a cost theory of value. He begins by re-reading the ...
Transaction Economics of John R. Commons: Towards Reasonable Capitalism
1st Edition
By Shingo Takahashi
October 28, 2024
Takahashi reconstructs the key blocks of one of the founders of the institutional school, John R. Commons’ theories of the evolution of capitalism and of institutional change by taking the concept of transaction as a central point of departure. Commons’ theories continue to influence modern ...
Economic Policy and the History of Economic Thought
1st Edition
Edited
By Stavros Drakopoulos, Ioannis Katselidis
October 04, 2024
This book discusses key issues in economic policy in the context of the history of economic thought. Most of the current and past academic controversies in economics are, explicitly or implicitly, centred around the application and form of economic policy. This is particularly evident in the ...