WHAT IS POLITICAL ECONOMY

Political Economy is a study of the natural laws governing the production and distribution of wealth. It refers to the "economy" of a community, a larger geographical unit, or a nation-state- in contrast to the "economy" of an individual or a household. Founded by the French Physiocrats; see Physiocrats and the Impot Unique; major contributors to classical political economy included Adam Smith, Ricardo, Malthus, Mill and Marx. The classical analysis was being subverted toward the latter part of the 19th Century by the marginal utility, historical and neo-classical approach represented by, among others; Jevons, Bohm-Bawerk, J B Clark, Marshall, , etc. By the 1930's, the Keynesian approach had pretty much swept the field. The abbreviated primer below explores the earlier tradition.

courtesy Duke University Economics Dept


Shown above is the 19th Century political economist and social reformer, Henry George. His work represented the culmination of classical political economy which has been pretty generally obscured by a conspiracy amongst the academics and "scholars" to downplay his contributions to the discipline.

His most important writings include;

PROGRESS AND POVERTY An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth, 1879

SOCIAL PROBLEMS, 1883

PROTECTION OR FREE TRADE, 1886

A PERPLEXED PHILOSOPHER, 1892

THE SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, 1897

Although he continued in the tradition of giants, the radical nature of Henry George's remedy has earned him little more than a footnote in contemporary economic literature. The synopsis below is based upon the natural laws of the production and distribution of wealth.

Axioms of Political Economy