"Heinz Rieter is one of the doyens of the history of economic thought in Germany. On the occasion of his 75th birthday some of his pupils have edited this volume, gathering outstanding articles from four decades dealing with a broad range of subjects, from Physiocratic thought to recent developments of German monetary policy. Two main issues can be identified: Physiocratic economic thought, and the history of monetary theory. Other articles, however, deal with the legacy of Alfred Marshall, the formulation of expectations in the works of Keynes and Schumpeter, and the intellectual origins of German Ordoliberalism.

The intellectual highlights of this volume are several articles on the history of Physiocratic thought. Rieter here presents his argument that the "Tableau Economique" was not, as is often suggested, modelled on the human bloodstream. By detailed comparison of historical treatises dealing with horology and Francois Quesnay's own descriptions of the "Tableau Economique" he is able to demonstrate that the latter was constructed according to the model of a mechanical clock. It makes a big difference whether the economic circulation is modelled as an organic entity or as a mechanism. Rieter shows that the mechanical analogy for economic circulation did not really fit with the emphasis in contemporary political economy on the freedom of action. Another probable explanation, however, could be detected in the difference between the tradition of an "artisanal" and a "clockmaker" God, a distinction that had - as Alexandre Koyre has shown - governed debate between Newton and Leibniz on the construction of the universe.

A second group of articles deals with the history of monetary theory, especially during the nineteenth century. Rieter here first deals extensively with the thought of Thomas Tooke (on which he wrote his PhD), Tooke taking an intermediate position between the "currency" and the "banking" schools of monetary thought. Furthermore, the author looks into the history of little-known German approaches to the substance and functioning of money during the nineteenth century. However, his verdict on the German tradition is rather harsh, since he states that - with very few exceptions - German economists were not able to match the standard of British monetary theory before the First World War.

Among further articles, especially worth mentioning is the genealogy of the idea of economic equilibrium, in which Rieter gives a detailed sketch of this notion from the eighteenth century to modern times, and identifies different strands of critique. He makes the point that modern apologists of equilibrium should be at least careful when they call on long-dead economists to justify this idea.

All of the articles in this volume demonstrate a profound and extensive knowledge of the history of economic thought. They argue convincingly and are clearly written. A further characteristic of Rieter's texts is, however, a certain "presentism." Especially in his text on the idea of equilibrium, the author takes up historical analysis as a means of criticizing current developments in economic thinking, seeking to reveal alternative approaches. From a strictly historical point of view, this approach could appear questionable. However, this volume demonstrates once again that the history of economic thought can provide sources for the critique of the economic mainstream, and offer alternatives to it. This is certainly one aspect which makes this volume - aside from the rich and inspiring historical content - worth reading."

"Das Buch - eine Ehrengabe zum 75. Geburtstag Heinz Rieters - ist eine Auswahl aus dessen 46 im abschließenden Werkverzeichnis angeführten Schriften. Rieter hat Maßstäbe gesetzt mit seinen Forschungen zur Entwicklung der ökonomischen Theorie. Dogmengeschichte betreibt er nicht als Selbstzweck, sondern in der Absicht, den Bezug zum realen Objekt dieser Wissenschaft wiederzugewinnen. Maßstäbe aber auch als Schriftsteller - dem Leser drängt sich geradezu die Frage auf, "wie ein Ökonom eigentlich dazu kommt, ein solch schönes und gleichzeitig immer klares Deutsch zu schreiben." (Joachim Zweynert in seiner Einführung)

Besonders die Dogmengeschichtler sind dazu berufen, gegen die Dürre und stilistische Dürftigkeit der meisten Texte von Mainstream-Autoren - aber nicht nur von solchen - in den ökonomischen Fachzeitschriften der Gegenwart anzukämpfen. Denn sie beschäftigen sich noch viel mit Autoren, die das Schreiben nicht verlernt hatten.