'The Elements of Commerce Delineated in Aphorisms' - An analysis of a newly discovered manuscript written by Joseph Massie

This paper discusses a recently discovered unpublished manuscript, 'The Elements of Commerce Delineated in Aphorisms', which can now be attributed to Joseph Massie, author of The Natural Rate of Interest (1750). It is conjectured that Massie wrote this manuscript to present pithily the outline of a book 'The Elements of Commerce' that he proposed to write. This book was to be used for educating students in what would have been Britain's first business school. The British Government turned down Massie's proposal for this business school. However, the manuscript 'The Elements of Commerce Delineated in Aphorisms' outlines the skeletal outline of part of the course that Massie would have liked to present. It shows Massie making significant contributions to economics in the areas of price theory, tax incidence and the role of money and the rate of interest.