Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk · 1886
Böhm-Bawerk’s brief review considers Rudolf Meyer’s Heimstätten- und andere Wirthschaftsgesetze and Ursachen der amerikanischen Concurrenz, both published in 1883. He presents them as products of Meyer’s 1881 journey through the United States: extensive accounts of American economic life intended to yield practical lessons for Europe.
The review first reconstructs Meyer’s comparative argument. America emerges superior in almost every respect; Meyer locates Europe’s disadvantages chiefly in militarism, bureaucratism, and its agrarian institutions. Böhm-Bawerk reports this diagnosis, but grounds his own strongest endorsement in the books’ documentary substance:
Der thatsächliche Theil des Gebotenen ist ungemein interessant und lehrreich.
English translation: The factual part of what is offered is uncommonly interesting and instructive.
The distinction between factual material and political interpretation organizes the assessment. Böhm-Bawerk singles out the abundant legislation, much of it reproduced in its authentic wording, especially usury and agrarian laws. Accounts of grain cultivation, meat production, and American transport and communications likewise promise particular value for European readers. The books’ relevance thus rests on concrete institutional and productive conditions behind American competition.
His approval also extends, with qualifications, to Meyer’s interpretive reflections:
Auch die Reflexionen, die der Verf. an seine Schilderungen anknüpft, sind grossentheils werthvoll und anregend.
English translation: The reflections, too, which the author attaches to his descriptions are for the most part valuable and stimulating.
The closing judgment limits that praise: some reflections lead too exclusively toward Meyer’s partisan standpoint, while hurried exposition and coarse hostility toward economic theorists weaken the presentation. Yet Böhm-Bawerk treats these defects as tolerable costs of an otherwise valuable contribution. His central critical move is to preserve the usefulness of empirical comparison without endorsing all the political conclusions attached to it.
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