Lectures on political economy/edited by

Johan Gustaf Knut Wicksell, the author of these lectures, is an economist of outstanding achievement whose work has not yet received in English-speaking countries the attention it deserves. In Scandinavia where he taught, and in Central Europe and Italy where he has long been read, his influence has already been extensive and important. But, in other parts, even at the time of his death in 1926, he was probably less known than any other economist of commensurate rank. In recent years, however, largely as a result of the writings of Professor Hayek and Mr. J. M. Keynes, his theories concerning the rate of interest and the price level have become more widely known and his reputation is on the increase. It is safe to say that as the main body of his work becomes available this process is likely to continue.

Wicksell was born in 1851. He was thus nine years younger than Marshall, three years younger than Pareto, and the exact contemporary of Böhm-Bawerk and Wieser. His interest in Economics developed comparatively late: his first important work, Über Wert, Kapital und Rente, was not published until 1893. He graduated in philosophy and mathematics, and it was not until after taking his second degree in 1885 that he turned his attention seriously to the subject which became his life-work. After ten years' further study in France, Germany, Austria, and England he took his doctorate in economics. In 1900 he was appointed assistant professor of Political Economy at Lund. From 1904 to 1916 he held the chair in the same university. He died in 1926.