The Scope And Method of Political Economy

political economy, considered as a branch of abstract speculation." Moral and social considerations, in the widest sense, receive accordingly their due share of attention; and it would be difficult to find a better instance of an ethical treatment of economic problems than is contained in the chapter on "the probable future of the labouring classes." § 3. The conception of political economy as an ethical, realistic, and inductive science.?The emphasis with which the earlier systematic writers on economic method, especially in England, dwelt upon the abstract side of political economy led to a reaction, which took its rise in Germany, and is especially connected with the names of Roscher, Hildebrand, and Knies. The two schools, thus broadly distinguished, are sometimes spoken of as the English and the German respectively. These designations have the merit of brevity; and, taking into account what was actually written about method by English and German economists respectively during the middle part of this century, they are not without some justification. Interpreted literally, however, they are misleading. The doctrine of method set forth in the preceding section does not fairly represent the many-sidedness of English work in economics. In particular, it fails to assign a sufficiently important place to the mass of historical and statistical material that the labour of English economists has provided. The doctrine would, moreover, be accepted only in a modified and br...