Pre-Smithian Economists

About this Collection

Adam Smith is justly regarded as the first of the modern economists given his deep insights into the functioning of the economy and his comprehensive approach to the subject. Nevertheless, those economists of the 17th and 18th centuries who preceded Smith also had important insights even though there were many false trails and wrong turnings. This collection of economists documents the 150 years of growth in economic thinking which predated Smith.

Key People

Nicholas Barbon

Richard Cantillon

Pieter de la Court

Samuel Fortrey

John Locke

Gerard de Malynes

Bernard Mandeville

Thomas Mun

Sir Dudley North

Sir William Petty

Lewes Roberts

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Josiah Tucker

Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot

Titles & Essays

Group by Category

John Locke

Below the fold is a collection of key extracts by, and essays and study guides about John Locke (1632-1704).

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Works by John Locke

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John Locke

Source: Editor's Life in The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes, (London: Rivington, 1824 12th ed.). Vol. 1.

THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

Mr. John Locke was the son…

Mandeville: His Life and Work

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Works by Bernard de Mandevile

Source: Editor's Introduction to Mandeville's The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits, 2 vols. With a Commentary Critical, Historical, and Explanatory by F.B. Kaye…

North, Sir Dudley (1641-1691)

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Source: This biographical information comes from the editor's notes to Commerce, Culture, and Liberty: Readings on Capitalism before Adam Smith, ed. Henry C. Clark (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2003).

Dudley North was…

Petty’s Life and Economic Thought

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William Petty

Source: Extracts from the Introduction to Petty's The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, together with The Observations upon Bills of Mortality, more probably by Captain John Graunt, ed. Charles…

Notes About This Collection

For more information see:

William D. Grampp, Economic Liberalism. Volume I: The Beginnings (New York: Random House, 1965).
Barry Gordon, Economic Analysis before Adam Smith: Hesiod to Lessius (London: Macmillan, 1975).
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, The Origins of Physiocracy: Economic Revolution and Social Order in Eighteenth-Century France (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1976).
Commerce, Culture, and Liberty: Readings on Capitalism before Adam Smith, ed. Henry C. Clark (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2003).