Steuart published his book in 1767, although much of it was written decades
before -- possibly lifted from Cantillon. The term, political economy, was first
used by Montechretian in the 17th C. The idea was that term economy, concerned
the management of an estate. Political economy meant that the terrain would
shift to the whole country.
Michael Hoover wrote:
>
> ah yes, political economy, the 'science' of acquisition...
>
> I had grad school prof who thought it'd be really good idea for me to
> read, in addition to Smith, some other 18th century Scottish political
> economists such as Adam Ferguson, James Steuart. If memory serves,
> Steuart's book _Inquiry into Principles of Political Economy_ appeared
> decade or so before Smith's _Inquiry into Wealth of Nations_ (JS may
> have been first to use term as such but some listers no doubt know more
> about that stuff than me). Marx. who *critiqued* political economy,
> refers approvingly to Steuart as thinker with historical view and
> understanding of historically different modes of production (contrasting
> him to those positing/holding bourgeois individual to be natural).
>
> Early 19th century saw number of books with political economy in title:
> Say, Ricardo, Malthus, among better known... Michael Hoover
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
