The debates of the time

In the century stretching between William Petty's writings and Adam Smith's, economic thinking proceeded in many directions. It is impossible here to consider them all with the attention they deserve: some authors and research currents will simply be ignored, others will receive only brief mention, while only a few will be treated in more detail.

It is important to stress just how rich the debate on economic phenomena was during this period, moving forward on various planes, linking up with ethical or philosophical aspects in general or more immediate issues of political choices, and constituting the background from which certain personalities emerged to prominence from the point of view of our account. The contributions of the most important authors would be difficult if not impossible to understand if wholly isolated from the cultural context in which they took shape, and which they helped to enrich. This holds true for the period here considered in a measure that may be difficult to appreciate for those accustomed to the extreme specialisation in research characterising our times. Actually, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the figure of the economist was still far from clearly defined: reflections on economic phenomena were part of general reflections on society and man, and the same authors would in the course of time range over a vast field of issues.