Business Cycle Theory, Part I: Selected Texts, 1860-1939, Part I

In the mid-19th century, the business cycle was increasingly recognized as a recurrent phenomenon. The problem attracted many economists throughout the Western world until World War II. This edition contains key texts from the range of literature in the field. It covers many Anglo-Saxon writers as well as contributions from the French, German, Italian, Russian and Swedish debates. While the oldest business cycles theories presented in this edition did not achieve the degree of analytical rigour associated with modern economists, their observations, the demonstration of the complex interaction between real and monetary as well as structural change factors in economic systems, and the close association between the historical and analytical methods typical of their analyses, should still serve as a source for those interested in business cycle analysis.

Table of Contents:
VOLUME I Some Early Classics, VOLUME II Structural Theories of the Business Cycle, VOLUME III Monetary Theories of the Business Cycle, VOLUME IV Equilibrium and the Business Cycle

About the Author :
Harald Hagemann is at the University of Hohenheim, Germany, and is Life Member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. He is managing editor of Structural Change and Economic Dynamics and a member of the editorial board of The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought

Review :
'Language is indeed a barrier which hinders to a certain extent the circulation of ideas in the scientific community... The eight-volume collection of essays in business cycle theory edited by Harald Hagemann gives a partial but nonetheless welcome answer to this problem: besides including some of the seminal work in the field originally written in English, it offers English translations of a number of important and original contributions in German, French and Italian from authors such as Tugan-Baranowsky, Spiethoff, Wicksell, Ellis, Hayek, Lutz, Lowe, Del Vecchio, Aftalion, Schumpeter, Lescure, Amoroso, Frisch and Tinbergen... The editor's choice ... has been rather skilful considering the constraints to which he was subject... and for this he must be praised... Collections like the one assembled by Hagemann provide a helpful starting point for diving into, rather than gliding on the surface of, the recurring problem of crises and depressions and the economists' attempted solutions.' - Daniele Besomi, History of Economic Ideas'No review could do full justice to the richness of the articles reprinted in such a comprehensive work as this. This collection makes many classic works directly available to students, researchers and teachers. The paradigms represented in these works still influence business cycle research.'- Frank de Langen, Review of Political Economy