The first edition of Frank W. Taussig’s Principles of Economics was published in 1911. The two volumes were divided into eight books with well over one hundred items listed in the references. All but two of those items have been found in internet archives and links have been provided to them in the transcription below. I have also included first names for all but one of the authors.
Outstanding Challenge: Find on-line copies of
Ludwig Pohle. Deutschland am Scheidewege (1902);
Karl Theodor von Eheberg. Finanzwissenschaft (1909 edition).
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Volume I
BOOK I
THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION
References
On productive and unproductive labor, see the often-cited passages in Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book II, Chapter III; and those in John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book I, Chapter III. Wilhelm Roscher, Political Economy, Book I, Chapter III, gives an excellent historical and critical account. Among modern discussions, none is more deserving of attention than the paper by Professor Thorstein Veblen, on “industrial” and “pecuniary” employments, in Proceedings of the American Economic Association, 1901, No. 1. A recent discussion, with not a little of clouded thought, is in the Verhandlungen des Vereins für Sozialpolitik, 1909; especially a paper by Professor Eugen von Philippovich and the discussion thereon.
On the division of labor, Charles Babbage, On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures (1837), is still to be consulted. On modern developments, the Thirteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor (U. S.) on Hand and Machine Labor (1899) [Volume I; Volume II] contains a multitude of illustrations. A keen analysis of the division of labor in its historical forms is in Karl Bücher, Die Entstehung der Volkswirthschaft (7th ed., 1910) [3rd ed. 1901; 10th ed. 1917]; translated into English from the 3d German edition under the title Industrial Evolution (1901). On the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century, see the well-ordered narrative in Paul Mantoux, La révolution industrielle au xviiie siècle (1906), and the less systematic but more philosophical account in Arnold Toynbee, Lectures on the Industrial Revolution (10th ed., 1894).
On capital, see the references given below, at the close of Book V. Much as has been written of late on corporate doings and corporate organization, I know of no helpful references on the topics considered in Chapter 6.
BOOK II
VALUE AND EXCHANGE
References
Easily the first and most valuable book to be consulted on the theory of value is Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics (6th ed., 1910) [4th ed., 1898; 7th ed., 1916], especially Books III, IV, V. An admirable introductory sketch is in Thomas Nixon Carver, Distribution of Wealth, Chapter I. On the play of utility, see Philip Henry Wicksteed, The Common Sense of Political Economy (1910); Chapter II of Book I and Chapter III of Book II are valuable supplements to Marshall’s discussion of consumer’s surplus. Compare, also, Maffeo Pantaleoni, Pure Economics (English translation, 1898), Part II.
On speculation, consult Henry Crosby Emery, Speculation in the Stock and Produce Exchanges of the United States (1896).
The so-called Austrian theory of value, in which stress is laid on utility as dominating value, is set forth most fully in Friedrich von Wieser, Natural Value (English translation, 1893). A more compact statement is in Eugen von Böhm Bawerk, Positive Theory of Capital (English translation, 1891), Books III and IV.
BOOK III
MONEY AND THE MECHANISM OF EXCHANGE
References
On money, Karl Helfferich, Das Geld (2d ed., 1910) 3rd ed., unchanged with a statistical addition to the 2nd ed, 1916, is an excellent descriptive and analytical book. On the theory of money and prices, Irving Fisher, The Purchasing Power of Money (1911), also an excellent book, was published just as the present volume was going to press; I am glad to find its conclusions in essential accord with my own. An entirely different mode of reasoning, and different conclusions, which I find myself unable to accept, are in James Laurence Laughlin, The Principles of Money (1903). Joseph French Johnson, Money and Currency, has convenient accounts of the monetary history of various countries, but is of no value on questions of theory.
On banking, Charles Franklin Dunbar, Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking (ed. by Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague, 1901), is a little classic, and contains also abundant references.Hartley Withers, The Meaning of Money, gives a lucid and interesting account of banking conditions in Great Britain. Charles Arthur Conant, A History of Modern Banks of Issue, is useful for its descriptive matter. A vast mass of information on the banking problems and experiences of recent years is in the Publications of the National Monetary Commission (1909-1911); ably reviewed by Wesley Clair Mitchell] in Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1911.
On the questions of principle underlying bimetallism, see Leonard Darwin, Bimetallism (1898). The same questions are considered in Karl Helfferich, Das Geld (1910) [3rd ed., unchanged with a statistical addition to the 2nd ed, 1916], already referred to. Consult, also, James Laurence Laughlin, History of Bimetallism in the United States; Henry Parker Willis, A History of the Latin Monetary Union (1901); Piatt Andrew, “The End of the Mexican Dollar,” in Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XVIII, p. 321 (May, 1904).
On index numbers and methods of measuring prices, William Stanley Jevons, Investigations in Currency and Finance (1884), though of older date, is still to be read, as among the most interesting and stimulating on this topic. See also Professor Francis Ysidro Edgeworth’s] brilliant memorandum, in Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1887, pp. 247-301; and Correa Moylan Walsh, The Measurement of General Exchange Value (1901).
On rising and falling prices in relation to the rate of interest, see Irving Fisher, Appreciation and Interest, Public. Am. Econ. Assoc., First Series, Vol. XI (1896), and the same writers The Rate of Interest (1907), Chapters V and XIV. See also two papers by John Bates Clark, in the Political Science Quarterly, Vol. X, p. 389 [“The Gold Standard of Currency in the Light of Recent Theory”], and Vol. XI, p. 259 [“Free Coinage and Prosperity”](1895, 1896), and criticism of these by Correa Moylan Walsh, “The Steadily Appreciating Standard,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XI, p. 280 (1897).
Notwithstanding the abundant literature on crises, there is no good book on the underlying questions of principle. Good historical books are: Clément Juglar, Des crises commerciales et de leur retour périodique en France, en Angleterre, et aux États-Unis (2d ed., 1889), and Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague, A History of Crises under the National Banking System (1910; published by the National Monetary Commission).
BOOK IV
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
References
On the foreign exchanges, see Viscount George Joachim Goschen, The Theory of the Foreign Exchanges (last ed., 1901), and George Clare, The A B C of the Foreign Exchanges [Frank Taussig’s copy!] (1895). On international trade, the chapters in John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy (last ed., 1871), Book III, Chapters 17 seq., though in some parts unduly elaborated, are still unsurpassed. A good modern statement, almost too compact, is in Charles Francis Bastable, The Theory of International Trade (4th ed., 1903). A mathematical treatment is in three papers by Francis Ysidro Edgeworth, “The Theory of International Values,” in the Economic Journal, Vol. IV [March, September, December] (1894). I venture to refer also to my own paper on “Wages and Prices, in Relation to International Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XX, August, 1906.
Notwithstanding the mass of literature on free trade and protection, no book covers the controversy satisfactorily. Henry Fawcett, Free Trade and Protection (1885), states the simpler reasoning in favor of free trade and refutes the cruder protectionist fallacies. Arthur Cecil Pigou, Protective and Preferential Import Duties (1906), is able and discriminating, but written with reference chiefly to the contemporary controversy (1895-1905) in Great Britain. On this, see also William James Ashley, The Tariff Problem (2nd ed. 1904). On the German debates, see, among others, Ludwig Pohle, Deutschland am Scheidewege (1902), and Adolph Wagner, Agrar- und Industriestaat (1902), both in favor of protection for agriculture; and on the other side, Lujo Brentano, Die Schrecken des [überwiegenden] Industriestaats (1901), and Heinrich Dietzel, Weltwirthschaft und Volkswirthschaft (1900). On the tariff history of the United States, Edward Stanwood, American Tariff Controversies in the Nineteenth Century (1903) [Volume I(1903); Volume II (1904), a narrative account of legislation and discussion by a protectionist; and Frank William Taussig, The Tariff History of the United States (ed. of 1909) [5th ed. 1910].
Volume 2
BOOK V
THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH
References
On the theory of distribution in general, as on that of value, the first book to be mentioned is Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics, Books IV, V, VI (6th ed., 1910) [5th ed., 1908]. A compact and able theoretic analysis is in Thomas Nixon Carver, The Distribution of Wealth (1904). Entirely different in method, with a wealth of historical and statistical analysis, and large-minded treatment of the underlying social problems, is Gustav von Schmoller, Grundriss der Volkswirtschaftslehre, Books III, IV (1900–1904; French translation, 1905–1908).
Among the many modern books on capital and interest, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Positive Theory of Capital (English translation, 1891, has most profoundly influenced recent economic thought. A revised edition of the German is in process of publication, the first part having appeared in 1909) [Note —German 4th edition (1921): Kapital und Kapitalzins: Part I, Geschichte und Kritik der Kapitalzins-Theorien; Part II, Positive Theorie des Kapitales, Vol. I; Part II, Positive Theorie des Kapitales, Vol. II (Exkurse)]. Not inferior to this in intellectual incisiveness, but marked, like it, by some excess of refinement and subtlety, are Irving Fisher’s two volumes, The Nature of Capital and Income (1906), and The Rate of Interest (1907). John Bates Clark, The Distribution of Wealth (1899), sets forth a theory of wages and interest as the specific products of labor and capital; I find myself unable to accept the reasoning, but to some economists it seems conclusive. The view that there is no essential difference between interest and rent (see Chapter 46) is maintained not only by I. Fisher and J. B. Clark, but by Frank Albert Fetter, Principles of Economics (1904). An able book by a French thinker is Adolphe Landry, L’intérêt du capital (1904).
On urban site rent, interesting descriptive matter is in Richard Melancthon, Principles of City Land Values (1903).
James Bonar, Malthus (1885), gives an excellent account of Malthus’s writings and of the earlier controversy about his doctrines. Arsène Dumont, Dépopulation et civilisation (1890), not a book of the first rank, states the modern French view, laying stress on “social capillarity”, as explaining the decline in the birth rate, and enlarging on the desirability of an increasing population. Émile Levasseur, La Population française (1892), Vol. III, Part I, gives a good summary statement on the base of population compared with the growth of wealth. Georg von Mayr, Statistik und Gesellschaftslehre [Vol. I, Theoretische Statistik(1895)]: Vol. II, Bevölkerungsstatistik (1897), Vol. III, Part I, Moralstatistik (1910), gives a model summary of statistical data and a judicial statement on questions of principle.
Notwithstanding the enormous mass of literature on social stratification, there is no one book that treats this topic in a manner thoroughly satisfactory. Cyrille van Overbergh, La classe sociale (1905), may be consulted.
BOOK VI
PROBLEMS OF LABOR
References
A compact discussion of the topics in this Book is in Thomas Sewall Adams and Helen L. Sumner, Labor Problems (1905). On trade-unions, the elaborate book by Sidney and Beatrice Potter Webb, Industrial Democracy (1902), is of high quality; written with special regard to English experience, and stating too strongly the case in favor of the trade-union. On the American situation there is no good systematic book; but excellent studies on some phases are in Jacob Harry Hollander and George Ernest Barnett, Studies in American Trade-Unionism (1905). On Australasian experience, see Victor Selden Clark, The Labour Movement in Australasia (1906); and on the history of labor legislation in England, B. L. Hutchins and Amy Harrison, A History of Factory Legislation (1903). John Rae, Eight Hours for Work(1894), is a good inquiry on experience to the date of its publication. On workingmen’s insurance and allied topics, see Henry Rogers Seager, Social Insurance: A Program of Social Reform (1910), brief and excellent. More detailed and more informational is Lee Kaufer Frankel and Miles Menander Dawson, Workingmen’s Insurance in Europe (1910); still more elaborate is the Twenty-fourth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor (U. S.), Workingmen’s Insurance and Compensation Systems in Europe (2 vols., 1910). William Henry Beveridge, Unemployment (1910), is an able book, at once sympathetic and discriminating. A good general account of the co-öperative movement is Charles Ryle Fay, Co-öperation at Home and Abroad (1908).
For more detailed bibliographical memoranda, see the Guide to Reading in Social Ethics and Allied Subjects, published by Harvard University (1910).
BOOK VII
PROBLEMS OF ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION
References
On railways, Arthur Twinning Hadley, Railroad Transportation (1885), though of older date, has not been completely superseded. More recent are William Mitchell Acworth, The Elements of Railway Economics (1905), and Emory Richard Johnson, American Railway Transportation (new ed., 1910); the latter written primarily as a textbook for American colleges. An able monograph is Matthew Brown Hammond, Railway Rate Theories of the Interstate Commerce Commission (1911); compare John Maurice Clark, Standards of Reasonableness in Local Freight Discriminations (1910). Among foreign books, Clément Colson, Transports et tarifs (1890), though technical and detailed, is of high value. On combinations and trusts, Robert Liefmann, Kartelle und Trusts (1909) [French translation, 1914], gives an excellent compact account of the German situation; and Henry William Macrosty, The Trust Movement in British Industry (1907), a detailed survey of that in Great Britain. Three usable books on American conditions are Richard Theodore Ely, Monopolies and Trusts (1900), Jeremiah Whipple Jenks, The Trust Problem(1900), Edward Sherwood Meade, Trust Finance (1903).
On public ownership, Leonard Darwin, Municipal Trade (1903), is an acute critical book, by an opponent; a briefer statement of the same reasoning is in this author’s Municipal Ownership (1907). A mass of information and discussion on both sides is in the Report on the Municipal and Private Operation of Public Utilities, published by the National Civic Federation (3 vols., 1907) [Vol. I; Vol. II; Vol. III]. A detailed treatment of the relation of municipalities to “public utilities” is in Delos Franklin Wilcox, Municipal Franchises (2 vols., 1910-1911) [Vol. I; Vol. II].
The books on socialism deal largely with controversies which do not proceed to the heart of the matter. This seems to me to hold of Karl Marx, Das Kapital (English translation, 1891), the most famous and influential of socialist books. Among the innumerable discussions and refutations of the Marxian doctrines may be mentioned Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Zum Abschluss des Marxchen Systems, Marx and the Close of his System (English translation, 1891), and James Edward Le Rossignol, Orthodox Socialism: a Criticism (1907). A concise and vigorous statement, based mainly on Marx, is in Karl Kautsky, The Class Struggle and The Social Revolution (English translations, 1910 [and 1902, respectively]). John Spargo, Socialism (1906), is a popular statement of socialist tenets and proposals. Among recent socialist books, James MacKaye, The Economy of Happiness (1906), advocates socialism in a train of rigorous utilitarian reasoning.
Among expository and critical books, Albert Schäffle, The Impossibility of Social Democracy, and The Quintessence of Socialism (English translations, 1892 and 1902), are excellent, especially the last-named. The most stimulating and discriminating advocacy and discussion of socialism is often by writers who do not pretend to be “scientific.” Such are Herb Goldsworthy Lowes Dikinson, Justice and Liberty(1908).
On this Book, as on Book VI, see the bibliographical memoranda in the Guide to Reading in Social Ethics and Allied Subjects, published by Harvard University (1910).
BOOK VIII
TAXATION
References
Charles Francis Bastable, Public Finance (2d ed., 1895), covers the whole field, and is able and well-judged, though not attractively written. Among foreign books, Karl Theodor von Eheberg, Finanzwissenschaft (new ed., 1909), is a good book of the German type; and Paul Leroy Beaulieu, Science des Finances (new ed., 1906. Vol. I; Vol. II), is an able French book, full of good sense and information, but not strong on some questions of principle. On progression, the view presented in Chapter 66 is similar to that of Adolph Wagner, Finanzwissenschaft, Vol. II, § 396 seq. (ed. of 1880), and is different from that in Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman’s Progressive Taxation in Theory and Practice (new ed., 1908). The last-named writer’s Income Tax (1911) is an excellent survey of legislation and experience; and in his Essays on Taxation (new ed., 1911 [1913 edition linked here]), there is a valuable discussion of the American property tax system.
Image Source: Maggs Bros. Ltd. advertisement for a copy of the first edition of Frank W. Taussig’s Principles of Economics (1911). List price (as of July 27, 2024): US$ 765.35.
