Economy of the Word

Modern economics has been lost to a lengthy debate about the language economists use to establish solid grounds on which to build the case for a theory, technique, or application. The significance of "economic activity"-of sustaining life-was obvious until the sixteenth century when economic writing went unchecked. In Western Europe, pamphlets and books started discussing "economic issues": matters of husbandry, trade, money, and population. In the 1930s journal articles started to displace the book. By the end of the twentieth century, economists read hardly any books at all. Today, general works of economics are textbooks written for students, and books read by those who understand the principles of economics focus on particular branches of the subject. The Economy of the Word, separated into three comprehensive sections, extends our understanding of economic argument by considering the historical construction of economic language. The first part provides a sense of what we mean when we talk about the economy. The second analyses Smith's Wealth of Nations and gives an account of its reception. The third examines how the works of Marx and Walras were constructed out of materials they read. Keith Tribe considers the historical construction of economic language and argues that in understanding economic argument, we must pay attention to "the economy of the word."