Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk · 1896
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk’s review of the first part of N. G. Pierson’s economics textbook, in its second revised edition, praises a rare conjunction of theoretical depth and accessible exposition. The review moves from an emphatic recommendation, including a proposal for German translation, to an account of Pierson’s explanatory method and a qualified endorsement of his arrangement of economic subjects.
Böhm-Bawerk establishes Pierson’s distinction without dismissing German economics textbooks. He acknowledges the standing of Roscher, Schäffle, Wagner, Menger, Schönberg, and Philippovich, but identifies a pedagogical divide that Pierson overcomes:
Die gehaltvollsten deutschen Lehrbücher sind in der Regel wenig populär, und die populären Erzeugnisse sind selten gehaltvoll. Piersons Leerboek repräsentiert dagegen die seltene Combination beider Vorzüge.
English translation: The most substantial German textbooks are as a rule little popular, and the popular productions are seldom substantial. Pierson's Leerboek, by contrast, represents the rare combination of both merits.
Accessibility here means more than readable presentation. Böhm-Bawerk values Pierson’s ability to state the scientific problem behind each subject and trace phenomena to their deepest causal connections, despite the constraints of textbook brevity. His contrast between superficial instruction and genuine explanation supplies the review’s central criterion of excellence. Pierson’s literary skill makes theoretical compression possible: a few well-connected observations reveal the relationship between elementary causes and complex appearances without resorting to vague phrases.
The final portion considers the book’s organization. Conventional textbooks begin with production, proceed to circulation, and only then discuss distribution. Pierson instead begins with exchange value, incorporating rent, interest, and wages into that opening division. A second division treats money, banking, bills of exchange, and exchange rates under the heading of means of exchange. Production and public revenues are reserved for the second volume. Böhm-Bawerk treats this reordering as a serious response to difficulties inherited from classical economics:
Die Eintheilung Piersons bedeutet jedenfalls einen interessanten und lehrreichen Beitrag zu diesen Versuchen.
English translation: Pierson's classification signifies in any case an interesting and instructive contribution to these attempts.
His approval remains discriminating. He neither declares the new sequence definitive nor derives a general theoretical doctrine from it; the arrangement of systematic exposition is partly a question of practical suitability, admitting arguments on both sides. The review’s relevance lies in this connection between economic explanation and pedagogy: Pierson earns praise both for making causal analysis intelligible and for reconsidering the order in which its subjects should be taught.
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