Public Debt in Post-1850 German Economic Thought vis-à-vis the Pre-1850 British Classical School

Carl-Ludwig Holtfrerich

German Economic Review, 2014, vol. 15, issue 1, 62-83

Abstract: The positions of British and German economists on public debt in the long nineteenth century differed substantially from each other. Whereas British classical economists regarded any public debt as ruinous for the country, German economists promoted debt accumulation for productivity-enhancing public investment and current outlays with benefits for future fiscal years. This article summarizes the positions of the most prominent British economists before 1850, David Hume, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Thomas R. Malthus and John Stuart Mill, and deals more extensively with those of their German colleagues Carl Dietzel, Lorenz von Stein and Adolph Wagner after 1855.

Keywords: Public finance theory nineteenth century; public debt; British- German comparison; Carl Dietzel; Lorenz von Stein; Adolph Wagner; German public finance theory pre-1900; British classical economists (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1111/geer.12026

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