The "Fear of Goods": Two Views

Abstract

months ago: Paura dei beni. Da Esiodo a Adam Smith (Perrotta 2008). This study – the Italian version of a volume published with Routledge under the title Consumption as an investment. The fear of goods from Hesiod to Adam Smith – is an inquiry into the history of economic thought, on the frontier between the history of philosophy and political science. It describes in a very detailed and accurate manner the evolution of a central topic in our discipline: the answer to the question, should we “fear goods” – should we be highly suspicious of personal affluence and the accumulation of wealth? We know that the debates on this question reach back to antiquity. We also know how much they were lively, opposing those who, for moral, philosophical and political reasons were fearful of enrichment (either in general or for particular class(es) of citizens) to those who believed the accumulation of wealth to be clearly positive in its effects and thus to be welcomed. We also know how these debates passed down through the ages: this book, starting with early Greek antiquity, stops at the end of the 18th century; a second volume is in preparation, which will continue the story to the present day. But even if the story has not yet been completed, this first volume presents a genuinely fascinating and learned journey into texts and the history of ideas. My only initial reservation concerns the use of a terminology which could possibly be misleading, in sharp contrast to Perrotta’s quite innovative arguments. A case in point is the old and disputed label of “mercantilism”, which could perhaps be replaced by “political commerce” or “science of commerce” – phrases which are used by some of the authors themselves. Likewise the designation of the majority of 18th century writers as “illuministi”; this term is both vague and confusing, for in fact Quesnay, the Physiocrats in general, and The “Fear of Goods”: Two Views