Theoretical economics of Richard Cantillon

Abstract

In his “History of economic analysis” Joseph A. Schumpeter emphasized the role of the sequence “Petty—Cantillon—Quesnay”. Recent research has showed that it was Cantillon, whose contribution within this sequence was crucial. The article is devoted to the scientific legacy of the author of the “Essay on the nature of trade in general” — the first systemic treatise on economic theory in history; as well as to the impact it had on the subsequent development of economic thought. The topics under discussion include issues of method, ontological assumptions and ideological setting, theories of social reproduction, value and circulation of money, entrepreneurship, population and spatial development. It is argued that Cantillon’s blueprint of theoretical economics provided a pattern for the formation of classical political economy and partly retained this role in the post-classic period. Cantillon’s theoretical legacy can serve as a source of relevant lessons for theoretical economists and organizers of economic research until today.