Cantillon’s Essai: A Current Perspective

Professor Spengler’s, “Richard Cantiilon: Fist of the Modems,” published in 1954, remains the classic survey article of Cantillon’s contributions to economic thought. These contributions consist of views on population and related matters, theory of value, monetary theory, and international trade and finance. Many of his ideas became a part of the economic thought of the closing years of the eighteenth century, and, as Professor Spengler points out, unfortunately, Cantillon’s name had been stripped from most if not all of his ideas. Professor Spengler, then, has done both Cantillon and the economics profession a service by restoring to Cantillon his rightful place in the history of economic thought.

Volume 7, Number 2 (1985)