This essay examines Jean-Baptiste Say's (virtually unknown) annotated copy of the Wealth of Nations in order to gauge the impact on Say of Adam Smith just as the former was writing the Traite d'Economie politique (1803). Say introduced several ideas, including the immaterial commodity, derived...

Samuel Hollander and Pierangelo Garegnani have debated the appropriate interpretation of David Ricardo since 1973, without substantive agreement. On at least one issue--the interdependence of prices and output levels--the debate has stalled because textual exegesis cannot solve a logical...