[Rezension zu Leo Petritsch: Die Theorie von der sogenannten günstigen und ungünstigen Handelsbilanz]

Carl Menger’s Review of Leo Petritsch (1903)

Menger’s brief review of Petritsch’s Die Theorie von der sogenannten günstigen und ungünstigen Handelsbilanz (Graz, 1902) moves from an account of the book’s claims to a restrained criticism of its ambition. Petritsch seeks to expose fundamental errors in theories of favorable and unfavorable trade balances. His challenge extends to the balance of payments:

Auch der Zahlungsbilanz spricht er nur eine verhältnismäßig geringe Bedeutung zu.

English translation: To the balance of payments as well he ascribes only a relatively slight significance.

Menger reports Petritsch’s contention that passive and active payment balances are temporary rather than chronic, apart from possible lasting changes in demand for metallic money. Petritsch treats the intricate legal organization of international transactions as a source of resilience against the dangers attributed to persistent deficits. He also claims that the balance of payments is irrelevant to currency reform. These are positions Menger presents, not conclusions he endorses.

The review closes by contrasting the book’s clarity and diligence with the difficulty of its subject:

Das kleine Buch ist klar und mit vielem Fließe geschrieben; doch dürfte es vielleicht zweckmäßiger gewesen sein, wenn sich der Verf. für seine Erstlingsarbeit eine minder complicierte Ausgabe gestellt hätte.

English translation: The little book is written clearly and with much diligence; yet it might perhaps have been more expedient had the author set himself a less complicated task for his first work.

Menger supplies no detailed refutation. The review’s critical force lies in this reservation: lucid exposition does not establish that Petritsch has adequately resolved the complexities of international payments and monetary reform.