ABSTRACT
AN IMPRESSION prevails in many minds that social science has made out a case against national planning, at least in economic matters. This impression is the vestigial remnant of what used to be a vigorous belief. English political economy arose as a destructive critique of the national planning done by mercantilist statesmen and as a constructive argument for a policy of laissez faire. But since Adam Smith published the Wealth of Nations in 1776, economic practice and economic theory have been evolving rapidly, each acting continuously upon the other. Present opinions upon national planning are the outcome up to date of these historical developments in the field of practice and of theory, which I shall sketch as briefly as I can.
