Oskar Morgenstern: Review of Enrico Barone’s Grundzüge der theoretischen Nationalökonomie (1928)

Oskar Morgenstern’s signed book review assesses the German translation of Enrico Barone’s textbook as both an important vehicle for disseminating Italian economics and a rigorous introduction to economic theory. Its argument moves from Barone’s international standing to the book’s teaching value, then qualifies its praise by acknowledging developments beyond the original exposition. Morgenstern offers an evaluative account of the work’s significance rather than a detailed examination of its doctrines.

The opening establishes a disparity between intellectual achievement and international recognition:

Enrico Barone, together with Maffeo Pantaleoni and Vifredo Pareto, undoubtedly ranks among the three foremost Italian economists; and still his work is not as widely known as is the work of the others.

Morgenstern attributes this limited recognition partly to Barone’s practice of publishing in the Giornale degli Economisti and partly to the previous absence of translations. The linguistic barrier matters beyond Barone individually: it prevents economists elsewhere from appreciating the vitality and quality of Italian theoretical work. German translation has particular importance for American universities, where German books circulate more widely. Translation thus appears as a practical means of correcting an imbalance in the reception of economic ideas.

Morgenstern carefully distinguishes the textbook’s value from that of Barone’s principal research contributions. Those contributions lie in mathematically formulated journal papers on difficult questions, including consumers’ rent and production theory. The reviewed book instead summarizes lectures delivered in Rome dating back to 1908. Its pedagogical purpose does not make it elementary:

It is, however, not an easy textbook for a beginner; but it is an excellent basis for a serious discussion group that intends to go, step by step, through the main principles of economic theory.

The recommended setting is collective, sustained study. Morgenstern praises the exposition’s clarity and rigor and notes its sixty-six illustrative graphs. Its scope extends from wants and economic equilibrium to cycles, making it valuable as a systematic treatment of the field.

That systematic character also explains why substantive criticism would require more space than the review allows:

But every systematic exposition of a doctrine immediately calls for such transformation, especially if in some separate fields (monetary theory, value theory) progress has been made that could not be incorporated in the present exposition.

Morgenstern’s qualification is specific but restrained: later advances in monetary and value theory invite reconsideration, yet he does not identify particular errors or reconstruct those advances. He closes by endorsing the translation and Schumpeter’s illuminating introduction. The review’s central judgment remains that Barone’s demanding textbook deserves wider access and serious discussion, even as its doctrines require engagement in light of subsequent theoretical progress.