Four Introductory Lectures on Political Economy

In 1851, at the height of Victorian Britain's economic dominance, one of Oxford's most eminent economists set out to define a young discipline still fighting for legitimacy. Nassau William Senior's lectures trace political economy's uncertain birth pangs: the attempts to separate rigorous analysis from moral philosophy, the struggle to establish wealth as a subject worthy of systematic study. He examines why economics had remained "undeveloped" despite centuries of inquiry, tracing influences from Quesnay's tableaux to Adam Smith's invisible hand. Senior argues forcefully that political economy must be treated as a positive science, not mere speculation, and offers his own definition of wealth as the foundation upon which all subsequent analysis must rest. The lectures remain a fascinating artifact of intellectual history, showing us the discipline as it was being assembled in real time, complete with the anxieties and ambitions of its pioneers. For anyone curious about where economics came from, and how a field defines itself, this is a front-row seat to its making.