The Birth of Modern Economic Science (Reading Gilles Campagnolo's Book)

Abstract

The '70s of the 19th century have always held a special attraction point for specialists in the history of thought. For economic theory, these are the years of the Great Crossroads when economic theory was at critical breaking point, after which several powerful theoretical streams emerged that were to determine later on the overall course of the evolution of economics. The book written by the French economist and philosopher Gilles Campagnolo (Criticisms of Political Economy, Menger, Austrian School of Economics and the German Historical School, Routledge, New York, 2009, pp. 416) is an attempt to find out exactly what happened in the years of the Great Crossroads. It offers not only historical reading, but also theoretical interpretation to explaining the evolution, mutual influence and intermingling of the above individual schools of thought in the economic science. The present paper is a review essay on Campagnolo’s new book.