Title page from Commerce, Culture, and Liberty: Readings on Capitalism Before Adam Smith

Commerce, Culture, and Liberty: Readings on Capitalism Before Adam Smith

In this Liberty Fund book the editor has compiled some of the more important writings on economics before the appearance of Smith’s Wealth of Nations in 1776. It is particularly strong on the French contribution. Not all the pieces in this volume have been put online for reasons of copyright.

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Key Quotes

Economics

Others may with regret complain That ’tis not fair Astrea’s reign, That the famed golden age is o’er That Saturn, Rhea rule no more: Or, to speak in another style, That Eden’s groves no longer smile. For my part, I thank Nature sage, That she has placed me in this age… I have, I own, a worldly…