Say’s Law―the idea that “supply creates its own demand”―has been a basic concept in economics for almost two centuries. Thomas Sowell traces its evolution as it emerged from successive controversies, particularly two of the most bitter and long lasting in the history of the discipline, the “general glut controversy” that reached a peak in the 1820s, and the Keynesian Revolution of the 1930s. These controversies not only involved almost every noted economist of the time but had repercussions on basic economic theory, methodology, and sociopolitical theory.
This book, the first comprehensive coverage of the subject, is an indispensable addition to the history of economic thought. It is also relevant to all social sciences concerned with economic prosperity, with the nature of intellectual orthodoxy and insurgency, or with the complex relationships among ideology, concepts, and policies.
Originally published in 1972.
Thomas Sowell is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. For more than half a century, his writings have appeared in both popular and scholarly publications, on both sides of the Atlantic, and his books have been translated into a dozen foreign languages. After a career as an economist in the government, academia, and the corporate world, he has since 1980 been a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution. His website is www.tsowell.com.
Robertson Dean has played leading roles on and off Broadway and at dozens of regional theaters throughout the country. He has a BA from Tufts University and an MFA from Yale. His audiobook narration has garnered ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he works in film and television in addition to narrating.