Reflections on Political Economy

by Pietro Verri

This is the first English translation of the major work of the greatest Italian economist of the 18th century; the translation by Barbara McGilvray in collaboration with Peter D. Groenewegen was first published in 1984 and reset for this edition. Verri's original contributions include the definition of economic wants, the recognition that price or value is set by both utility and scarcity, the embryonic conception of general equilibrium, the distinction between economic and technical production, and the psychological basis of the economic calculus. "The best summary of political economy ... in Italy in the eighteenth century and one of the best in any country." Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy

150 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1781