A HISTORY OF ECONOMIC DOCTRINES: FROM THE TIME OF THE PHYSIOCRATS TO THE PRESENT DAY

In the economic curricula of French universities much greater stress is laid upon the history of economic theory than is the case anywhere else. To write a history of economic doctrines which should not exceed the limits of a single volumes was to attempt an almost impossible task, and the authors cannot pretend that they have accomplished such a difficult feat. There is no doubt that the beginnings of economic science lie in a remoter past but the great currents of economic thought known as the “school” only began with the appearance of those two typical doctrines individualism and socialism in the earlier half of the nineteenth century.