The mainstream classical theory of interest was part of the theory of profit as I have shown (Gootzeit 2006). The clearer separation of interest from profit took place gradually during the 19th century and even into the 20th. Turgot’s early role in this process has not been recognized. His...

Giacinto Dragonetti è l’autore di un piccolo libro, Delle virtù e de’ premi (1766) che associato al più celebre Dei delitti e delle pene (1764) di Cesare Beccaria, ebbe un significa- tivo successo nell’Europa dei lumi pre-rivoluzionaria. Il libro è costruito attorno all’idea che alle...

Classical economists - mainly Smith, Ricardo and J.S. Mill - abhorred public debts because of their interference with capital accumulation. J.S. Mill in particular envisaged that a rising public debt leads to higher interest rates and falling real wages, a combination which may be consistent...

Harriet Taylor has been long forgotten as an economist and political philosopher, while merely remembered as John Stuart Mill’s friend and belatedly wife. Never was fate more unjust: we only need to recall that Taylor - whose liberal background soon led her to be fascinated by socialist...

The introduction of new technology may have significant effects on the level of employment and the real wage rate; effects that have received considerable attention even from the economic thinkers of the classical period. This paper aims to analyze and evaluate the various views and arguments of...