This volume introduces two unique and hitherto largely unknown
contributions published in the 1500s to the making of modern economic
knowledge, making them available internationally for the first time in
full English translation.
Written in 1597, Barthélemy de Laffemas' General regulation for the
establishment of manufactures(written originally in French:
Reiglementgénéral pour dresser les manufactures) represents one of the
earliest voices in the history of political economy, arguing that
manufacturing and industry are the true sources of the wealth of nations
and that states should pursue an active industrial policy (also known as
'mission-driven' policies). Located at the crossroads between medieval
Scholasticism and early mercantilism, it presents a political program
that would lead to French economic development, providing the
foundations for the French industrialization program during the
1660s-1680s. Laffemas presents a simplified version of an infant
industry argument and European standard model of economic development
known from thoughts of Enlightenment thinkers such as Colbert, Sir James
Steuart, Friedrich List's National System of Political Economy (1841),
nineteenth and twentieth-century theories for catching up with England
and later the US, and twenty-first century 'industrial policy' or
'mission-driven' policies (MarianaMazzucato).
Leonhard Fronsperger'sOn the praise of self-interest (German original:
Von dem Lob deß Eigen Nutzen, 1564) is the first documented instance of
the 'Mandeville paradox', one of the key axioms ofneoliberalism.
Commonly associated with much later writings, including Bernard de
Mandeville's Fable of the Bees (1705/14), or Adam Smith's Wealth of
Nations (1776), German military surgeon and polymath Fronsperger argued
in 1564 that self-interest is an important driver in economic
development. In his text, however, Fronsperger is much more pragmatic
and less ideological than Mandeville or post-Mandevillean modern
neoliberals. Vested in Renaissance Humanism and directly associated with
the master of his time - Erasmus of Rotterdam - Fronsperger develops
Renaissance theory about homo faber (creative, driven humans) as the
center of the world to perfection, deriving from it the logical
conclusion that possessive individualism and self-interest are important
forces moving the human economy forward. Without letting go of the
state, this work argues for self-interest facilitating virtuous cycles
of enrichment and positive economic development.
