Foundations of Political Economy: Some Early Tudor Views on State and Society

Scholarly opinion generally holds that the seventeenth or even the eighteenth century gave birth to the science of political economy, often associated with the transition from "commercial" to "industrial" capitalism. Not so, claims Neal Wood, who traces the origins of political economy to the early Tudor period and the pioneering work of such sixteenth-century authors as Dudley, More, Starkey, Brinklow, Crowley, Latimer, Becon, Lever, and Thomas Smith. In an illuminating examination of the works of these perceptive writers, Wood shows how they laid the groundwork for such well-known political and economic theorists as Hobbes, Locke, and Petty. In response to the acute material and social conditions brought on in part by incipient capitalism, these Tudor figures urged government reform, linking politics to economics and thereby sowing the seeds that were brought to fruition by their later counterparts. Not only did these Tudor thinkers condemn widespread poverty and suffering, expressing a social concern that was unprecedented among the privileged of their day, they were also among first Europeans to base their analysis and protest on the available empirical evidence. Without opposing the status quo they were fashioning an economic conception of the state, perhaps their chief claim for being remembered. Neal Wood's attribution of the early foundations of political economy to the Tudor period breaks new ground. He focuses attention on a number of unjustly neglected social and political thinkers, thereby broadening the field of political economy. His work offers provocative reading for political scientists, historians, social and political theorists, historical sociologists, economichistorians, and anyone interested in intellectual or economic history.