Lionel Robbins's now famous lectures on the history of economic thought comprise one of the greatest accounts since World War II of the evolution of economic ideas. This volume represents the first time those lectures have been published. Lord Robbins (1898-1984) was a remarkably accomplished thinker, writer, and public figure. He made important contributions to economic theory, methodology, and policy analysis, directed the economic section of Winston Churchill's War Cabinet, and served as chairman of the Financial Times. As a historian of economic ideas, he ranks with Joseph Schumpeter and Jacob Viner as one of the foremost scholars of the century. These lectures, delivered at the London School of Economics between 1979 and 1981 and tape-recorded by Robbins's grandson, display his mastery of the intellectual history of economics, his infectious enthusiasm for the subject, and his eloquence and incisive wit. They cover a broad chronological range, beginning with Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas, focusing extensively on Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus and the classicals, and finishing with a discussion of moderns and marginalists from Marx to Alfred Marshall. Robbins takes a varied and inclusive approach to intellectual history. As he says in his first lecture: "I shall go my own sweet way--sometimes talk about doctrine, sometimes talk about persons, sometimes talk about periods." The lectures are united by Robbins's conviction that it is impossible to understand adequately contemporary institutions and social sciences without understanding the ideas behind their development. Authoritative yet accessible, combining the immediacy of the spoken word with Robbins's exceptional talent for clear, well-organized exposition, this volume will be welcomed by anyone interested in the intellectual origins of the modern world.

List of Figures Foreword Introduction A Anticipations 3Lecture 1 Introduction - Plato 5Lecture 2 Plato and Aristotle 16Lecture 3 Aquinas and the Scholastics 26Lecture 4 Pamphleteers - Money (Oresme, Bodin, "W.S.") 35Lecture 5 Pamphleteers - Mercantilism (Malynes, Misselden, Mun) 46Lecture 6 Sir William Petty 55Lecture 7 Child and Locke (Interest) 66B Emergence of Systems 75Lecture 8 Cantillon 77Lecture 9 Cantillon (cont.) - Physiocracy 86Lecture 10 Physiocrats - Turgot 95Lecture 11 Locke and Hume on Property - Hume on Money 104Lecture 12 Hume on Interest and Trade - Precursors of Adam Smith 114Lecture 13 General Survey of Smith's Intentions - The Wealth of Nations: Analytical (I) 125Lecture 14 The Wealth of Nations: Analytical (II) 133Lecture 15 The Wealth of Nations: Analytical (III) - Policy (I) 143Lecture 16 The Wealth of Nations: Policy (II) 153C Nineteenth-Century Classicism 165Lecture 17 General Review - Malthus on Population 167Lecture 18 Value and Distribution: Historical Origin - Analytical (I) 176Lecture 19 Value and Distribution: Analytical (II) 185Lecture 20 Value and Distribution: Analytical (III) 192Lecture 21 Overall Equilibrium 201Lecture 22 International Trade 210Lecture 23 John Stuart Mill 219D Other Mid-Nineteenth-Century Thought 229Lecture 24 Mill (cont.) - Saint-Simon and Marx 231Lecture 25 Marx (cont.) - List and the Historical School 238E Beginnings of Modern Analysis 247Lecture 26 The Historical School (cont.) - Precursors of Change: Cournot, von Thunen, and Rae 249Lecture 27 The Marginal Revolution (I): Jevons 258Lecture 28 The Marginal Revolution (II): Jevons and Menger 268Lecture 29 The Marginal Revolution (III): Costs (Wieser) - The Pricing of Factor Services (Wieser, Clark, Wicksteed) 277Lecture 30 Capital Theory: Bohm-Bawerk and Fisher 285Lecture 31 Walras - Pareto 295Lecture 32 Marshall 303Lecture 33 Money: Fisher, Marshall, Wicksell 312App. A Robbins' Reading List 321App. B Robbins' Writings in the History of Economic Thought 331 References 337 Index 355