Readings in economics / edited by K.William Kapp and Lore L. Kapp

This book of readings is designed primarily to serve as a supple mentary text in courses dealing with the basic principles of political economy and with the evolution of economic ideas. However, we hope that the intrinsic quality of each selection and the short intro duction to each of the major sections will make it possible for the inquiring layman also to use the collection without the aid afforded by formal college instruction. Furthermore, we believe that the scope and the general character of most selections are such that the book will make stimulating reading for advanced students in the field. Apart from three of our own translations (Quesnay, Thünen, and Schmoller), Readings in Economics contains a number of selections which have long been out of print and available only in large libraries.

The development of economic theory reflects in a unique way the great changes which the processes of production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services have undergone in the course of history, and the changes in social relations resulting therefrom. For this reason, economic doctrines and ideas cannot be understood without reference to the social, political, and economic conditions of their times. What is more, economic doctrines and ideas do not exist in an intellectual vacuum; they are part of the general stream of thought of their respective periods and must be understood in relation to it. By thus relating economic thought not merely to the changing social, economic, and political conditions which it faithfully reflects but also to the general stream of thought, the study of the history of economic ideas is capable of making important contributions to the whole program of general education in a liberal arts college. But even within the more narrow confines of the economics curriculum, the study of the evolution of economic ideas fulfills the important additional function of unifying and in tegrating the fragmentary view of economic life which the average student takes away from his specialized courses.