Physiocracy, Antiphysiocracy and Pfeiffer

Physiocracy, or the economic theory that a nation’s wealth comes from is agricultural and land development, was a popular school of thought in France in the 18th century. The contribution and significance of the Physiocrats and Antiphysiocrats are explored in detail through chapter contributions by economists, philosophers, and social historians. The book concludes that neither the Physiocrats, nor the Antiphysiocrats were pure profit maximizers and that they all had the well-being of the commonwealth in mind. It brings to light previous studies only conducted in German and is the first analysis of Pfeiffer in a century, making the book of interest to any student or scholar of political economy and the history of economic thought. The contribution and significance of the Physiocrats and Antiphysiocrats are explored in detail through chapter contributions by economists, philosophers, and social historians. It brings to light previous studies only conducted in German and is the first analysis of Pfeiffer in a century, making the book of interest to any student or scholar of political economy and the history of economic thought.

Introduction - The Point of Physiocracy and its Anti-Thesis.- “Schauplatz der Künste und Handwerke” and the Translation of Economics Books at the Time of Justi and Pfeiffer.- Johann August Schlettwein: The German Physiocrat.- Rationality in Physiocratic Thought.- Cameralism and Physiocracy as the two sides of a coin – the example of the economic policy of Johann Friedrich von Pfeiffer.- Physiocrats and Laws of Population.- The Technological Dynamics of Capitalism: Colbertism, Cameralism and Antiphysiocracy meet Schumpeter.- On the Reception of Physiocratic Thought in German History of Economics.- Mature Cameralism according to Pfeiffer.- Economic Espionage and the Grand Tour: The Emulation of Tuscan Antiphysiocracy in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway.- Pfeiffer and the Foundation of the Science of Forestry.- Establishing sustainability theory within classical forest science – the role of cameralism and classical political economy.

Jürgen G. Backhaus (*1950), JSD 1976, PhD (Econ) 1985, holds the Krupp Chair in Public Finance and Fiscal Sociology at Erfurt University since November 2000. Between 1986 and 2000, he has held the chair in Public Economics at Maastricht University. In September 2004 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Thessaly (Greece). He has published 60 books and monographs, about 200 articles in refereed journals and book chapters, 28 scholarly notes and 63 reviews. His research interests span economics, but also neighbouring disciplines such as law, fiscal sociology and environmental sciences. In 1994 he founded (with Frank H. Stephen) the European Journal of Law and Economics, of which he is the managing editor.