ABSTRACT
This book presents an outline history of Australian economic thought from the beginnings to the present. It thereby goes considerably beyond the essays in such a history that have appeared (for example, La Nauze, 1949; Copland, 1950; Butlin, Fitzgerald and Scott, 1986) and with respect to time, Goodwin's (1966) massive inquiry into Australian economics which ends with the 1920s. A brief sketch such as this book clearly has limitations. However, such brevity has also some distinct advantages. By providing an overview of the complete development of economics in Australia, it permits construction of broad generalisations on the nature of that development, facilitating an understanding of the precise characteristics of an Australian economics. This aspect of the book arises from the fact that it is part of a series devoted to the history and development of economics in specific countries.
