1st Edition

The Entrepreneur in the History of Political Economy The Hunting for Heffalumps in the Early Economic Analysis

By José M. Menudo Copyright 2026
168 Pages
by Routledge

168 Pages
by Routledge

Modern economic theory has marginalised the figure of the entrepreneur, despite their significance in economic activity. Entrepreneurs rose in prominence as economic agents during the Enlightenment, but no consensus on this issue was formed in the period. This book addresses the role of the entrepreneur in the economic thought of the 18th and early 19th centuries, filling a gap in the... Read more

Tables. Acknowledgements. Aims & Scope I. A necessary theoretical framework II. Cantillon and the Physiocrates: from merchants to entrepreneurs III. A.-R.-J. Turgot: in search of an entrepreneurial factor of production IV. The British Tradition and the creative-disruptive entrepreneur V. Jean-Baptiste Say: an entrepreneur for classical economics VI. Final Chapter: Little to harvest in the wasteland Bibliography. Index.

Biography

José M. Menudo is a Full Professor of Economics at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Spain). His teaching and research focus on the history of economic thought. José received his BA in Economics in 1996 and his PhD in Economics in 2003. He is the author or editor of several books, including The Economic Thought of Sir James Steuart. First Economist of the Scottish Enlightenment (Routledge, 2019). He has also been recognised for his undergraduate teaching, graduate teaching, and graduate advising.