of Taxes is also notable. Alessio, too, has written on value from the Austrian viewpoint. Rabbeno (d. 1897) is of the historical order, showing a concrete, practical turn of mind, an inductive method, and sociological tendencies. His chief works (18831892) deal with labor, coöperation, and American protectionism. Loria deserves a separate paragraph, not because his views are more sound, but because they are more original than those of his fellows. He makes a study of real property the basis for an attack upon the present system of distribution. Though Loria by no means accepts the organic conception of society, his peculiar contributions largely lie in the field of sociological economics. He follows a hedonistic philosophy and a purely economic interpretation of history; morals, law, and politics are not causes, but results, of economic conditions. But land is the corner stone of the system. Capitalistic property is founded upon the violent suppression of free land. Thus no mere laws could remedy present evils, but only a diffusion of property. In his latest writings he defends the right of each man to land, and, as a practical remedy, suggests the payment by employers of a territorial wage" for a term of years, with the idea that at the end of the period substantial equality would exist - as in "final" or primitive society and coöperation could be hoped for.2 Loria appears to overlook the significance of bases for capitalization other than land; and few will accept so rigidly economic an interpretation of human motives and history. be solved indifferently in terms of cost or of degrees of utility (p. 173). “But whoever admits this, must recognize that the new doctrines of the final degrees of utility are a no less unexpected than crushing demonstration of the precision, elegance, and truth of all the theorems of the orthodox and classic economists." (Id., note.) 1 Chief works: La rendita fondiaria e la sua elisione naturale, 1879. Analisi della proprietà capitalista, 1889. Studii sul valore della moneta, 1891. La terra ed il sistemia sociale, 1892. 2 Constituzione economica odieria, 1900. See also La rendita fondiaria e la sua elisione naturale, 1879; and Economic Foundations of Society, London, 1899. Following the classification of German schools, one finds that all the tendencies are similarly manifested in Italy, excepting that the protectionist policy has little or no hearing among economists, and the more radical aspects of Socialism are almost equally weak. 2 Up to 1900 the most prominent group has been the historical. Here come Fornari, Toniolo, Supino, Ricca-Salerno, Loria,* A. Montanari, and, in most respects, Rabbeno. It must be noted, however, that these men stand for a degree of eclecticism not associated with the most typical members of the German school. They hold fast to a larger part of the classical English economics than their German models. Closely connected is a group of sociological economists: Boccardo, Cognetti, and Rabbeno. State Socialism of the Chair, so called, has Ferraris as its chief representative, and Montara' - and perhaps Luzzati — may be mentioned here. Ferraris is one of Wagner's pupils. 6 The conflicting German tendency, the Austrian School, has been quite active in Italy, as would be inferred from its adoption by such men as Graziani, Mazzola, E. Cossa, and Conigliani (d. 1901).10 As already indicated, Pantaleoni accepts the marginalutility idea of value in an eclectic sort of a way, but by no means follows the Austrian School in their typical conclusions concerning cost and interest. After all, it is in finance rather than in 1 Teorie economiche nelle Provincie Napoletane, 1882-1888. Teoria del Valore negli Economisti Italiani, 1882. 5 Contributo alla Storia della Teoria del Valore negli scrittori Italiani, 1889. 6 Born 1844; died 1891. Chief works: Le forme primitive dell' evoluzione economica, 1881; Socialismo Antico, 1889; Il Socialismo negli Stati Uniti, 1891; On the Formation, Structure, and Life of Commerce. Excellent at historical research, Cognetti was not strong at nice reasoning in economic theory. 7 Doveri delle Proprietà Fondiari, 1885. 8 Storia critica della Teoria del Valore, 1889. Le forme naturale della economia sociale, 1890. 1o La riforma delle leggi sui tributi locali, Modena, 1898; Saggi di economia politica, 1903. general theory that the Austrians have made most converts in Italy. This most recent tendency has found determined resistance, Supino,' Loria,' and Rabbeno having broken valiant lances in attacking it. These critics seem agreed that the emphasis of marginal utility," including as it does the ideas of utility and scarcity in a single word, means little but a change in terminology, while they regard the purely subjective tendency as onesided and as leading to the use of standards which cannot be precise. All authorities seem agreed that the Italians have a notable tendency to eclecticism in economics. They soften and harmonize the teachings of various schools. Beginning with the classical economics, they fell under the influence of Bastiat and Carey, and somewhat modified the English doctrines in the direction of optimism. To this condition came the historical tendency, out of which admixture arose the dominant historicoliberalistic eclecticism of recent times. Even the marginalutility theorists make some modification, approaching more closely the classical theories, and so making a fusion with the other group less difficult. When all has been said, it remains true that well down to the close of the last century the original contributions of Italian thought to the progress of economic science had been slight. But as Italy develops industrially, and as Italian thinkers enrich the soil of a national economic literature, those useful studies in the history of Italian theory led by L. Cossa will surely bear fruit. Already one may consult Italian works with advantage, and the time is at hand when the advanced student who can only master two foreign languages may perhaps hesitate between French and Italian. 1 Giornale degli Economisti, 1889. CHAPTER XXXI RECENT ECONOMIC THOUGHT IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE England.1 The more recent developments in the economic thought of England have been touched upon to some extent in preceding chapters. Thus Jevons has been discussed; and the concrete-historical work of Bagehot, Leslie, Toynbee, Rogers, and Ingram has been outlined. Thornton and others, too, were mentioned in connection with the downfall of the wages-fund theory. In short, the way has been prepared for a brief general statement of the English economics and economists of very recent times. For about a generation after 1850 the Ricardian economics as restated by Mill reigned supreme in England. Its spirit and that of its followers were quite absolute and dogmatic. To be unorthodox in economics was a serious reproach. The tone of the whole system was decidedly materialistic and neglectful of ethical factors, and, needless to say, deduction was its logical weapon. Henry Fawcett (1863) and John Elliott Cairnes (1824-1875) may be named as the leaders of the later classicists. Fawcett did little more than present a compendium of Mill's economics. Cairnes, however, was an acute and original thinker, whose works, entitled Some Leading Principles of Political Economy and Character and Logical Method of Political Economy, have had much influence. The former is notable for its portions on Value and 1 Beside the works of the authors referred to, see Foxwell," Economic Movement in England," Quart. Jr. Econ., II (1887); Ashley," The Present Position of Pol. Econ. in England," in Die Entwickelung d. Deutschen Volkswirthschaftslehre, Erster Teil; Palgrave's Dictionary; Price, Political Economy in England; etc. International Trade. It is in the part on value that the author discusses non-competing industrial groups,1 the theory of which will ever be associated with his name. In view of Thornton's and Jevons' attacks upon the classicists, Cairnes restates and modi-. fies the theory of value, emphasizing the effect of prospective supply, and defining demand as desire accompanied by purchasing power measured by the quantity offered. At this point he severely criticizes Mill.2 In method, he was on the whole deductive. He held that with nothing but strict induction the economist could reason till the crack of doom and get nowhere. His definition of economics is typical: "the science which, accepting as ultimate facts the principles of human nature, and the physical laws of the external world, as well as the conditions, political and social, of the several communities of men, investigates the laws of the production and distribution of wealth, which result from their combined operation." As compared with Ricardo, the method pursued by Cairnes was an advance, in that he did put many of his deductions to the test of facts. Cairnes, however, is open to criticism on the score of narrowness. He hardly grasped Jevons' idea of final utility, and consequently saw no good in it. Similarly he was inclined to state too absolutely the application of his non-competing groups. But, in a way, Cairnes was in his day the last of the English. classicists. Forces were at work which wrought great modification in the old viewpoint. In the first place came a broadening of economic analysis which arose from a recognition of the interrelation of ethical factors; it became affected with a humanitarian interest. The labor movement was largely responsible for this development. In the same year that Cairnes died (1875), Parliament passed the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act, and shortly thereafter the Trade Union Acts (1871, 1876), which legislation gave greater legal rights to organized labor. Toynbee was only one of many whose thought was largely colored by sympathy for labor. The attacks of Carlyle 1 Part I, Chap. III, § 5. 2 Ibid., Chap. IV, § 3. |