Hermann von Schullern zu Schrattenhofen · 1894
The 1894 review attributed to Hermann von Schullern zu Schrattenhofen of Albert Hahl’s Zur Geschichte der volkswirtschaftlichen Ideen in England gegen Ausgang des Mittelalters, signed “Sch.”, defends the scholarly value of recovering early economic thought. Its opening distinguishes specialist historical research from writing intended for a broad public or immediate political effect:
Studien, wie die vorliegende, sind nicht für ein grosses Publicum berechnet, sie sind auch nicht bestimmt, auf die Wirtschaftspolitik unmittelbaren Einfluss zu üben, sie müssen aber vom Fachmann, wenn sie ein Stück Dogmengeschichte — diese im modernen Sinne verstanden — liefern, stets freudig begrüsst werden.
English translation: Studies such as the present one are not intended for a large public, nor are they intended to exert an immediate influence on economic policy; nevertheless, specialists must always welcome them gladly when they contribute a piece of the history of economic doctrines—understood in the modern sense.
The review’s central historiographical claim is that such studies correct the assumption that earlier centuries, especially outside France and Italy, knew only economic prejudice or indifference, and that purposeful scientific inquiry began with the Physiocrats. Hahl’s treatment of 1436–1553 earns praise as a valuable supplement to Roscher’s history of English economic thought.
Schullern relates the book’s seven-chapter organization to the predominantly practical concerns of its sources: agriculture, industry, trade and shipping, customs policy, credit, precious metals and prices, and collective and individual economic activity. Historical scholarship’s distance from immediate policy is not political irrelevance: the chapters may indirectly stimulate reflection on contemporary economic policy.
His closing reservation concerns precisely the chapter he singles out for its conceptual interest:
Ohne irgend auf Einzelheiten eingehen zu wollen, verweisen wir besonders auf das Capitel: „Einzelwirtschaft und Gemeinwirtschaft“, das hohes Interesse bietet; leider ist es wohl etwas gar kurz gerathen und geht es weniger auf Details ein, als wünschenswert wäre.
English translation: Without wishing to enter into particulars, we draw particular attention to the chapter “Individual and Collective Economic Activity,” which is of great interest; unfortunately, it is probably somewhat too short and goes into less detail than would be desirable.
The review thus combines strong endorsement of Hahl’s historical recovery with a specific demand for fuller exposition, without developing an independent theory of collective and individual economic activity.
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