Translator's Preface

TRAN SLAT,OR,'SPREFACE The presentation of Friedrich l~reiherr von Wieser's SOCIAL EC ONOMICS to a larger group of Eng~lish readers requires no apology. In his foreward to this translation l?rofessor Mitchell has briefly sum marized the position which this work holds in the development of economic theory. That it is the only systematic treatise of the Aus trian school is ample justification for its presentation. While any further word with reference to the general place of this treatise in economic literature is uncalled' for, I' take this opportunity to pay tribute to certain features of the work and to forewarn the reader of certain qualities for which he may not 'be prepared. The work haa a logical sequenc€~ that is admirable, Von Wieser starts with an idealized simple econom~r and ends with a presentation of the protectionist plea in a world economy. (The method and development are described in Sections 1 and 2.)' Thruout the course of the 'argument no concept is introduced that later proves extran eous. At no time does he find it necessary to develop a point that could have been elaborated earlier. He develops a point and puts it by, later returns to it and carries; it forward. But there is no con fusion; the thought never become8 snarled.

The table of contents gives some clue to his logical method. The book progresses with an accelerating tempo. The groundwork is laboriously laid in the simple econ.omy. It is further elaborated in the first two parts of Book II on the social economy. At about this time his method of reaching back for earlier conclusions becomes con spicuous. More and more frequently he makes passing reference to a conclusion worked out in an earlier section. His presentation be comes briefer and briefer, until he reaches the end with a suddenness that is startling to one who has grnwn used to the meticulous develop ment and qualification in the earlier sections. In addition von Wieser manifests a clearness of observation and appreciation of the limitations of idealized thought that make the' book a valuable contributi~n to economic theory. He frequently points out that the classical writer,s drew conclusions from idealized premises and then erroneously applied them without modification to actual life. In his own work he clearly shows the dangers of applyxiii xiv TRANSL,ATOR'S PREFACE ing idealized conclusions without restriction. He explains his method at length in the early sections of the book, which I shall not antici pate. The reader may take issue with conclusions based upon pre liminary idealization and a later approximation of actual conditions; he may indeed not believe in the validity of deductive reasoning on economic problems. But it may never be said of von Wieser that he has not himself clearly stated the limita.tions of his theory. It ,vould. be a great injustice to quote 'from the .theory of the simple economy. without examining the later restrictions which he imposes on the applicability of the conclusion to reality.

In this connection one should clearly distinguish between the, small type at the end of many sections and the ordinary. footnote. The luain text follows to a conclusion. Then comes an addendum : at' times a critique of general theorY,again a cr~tical analysis of the ap plicability of his own thought, sometimes a mere. footnote. It 1S quite evident that in selecting the change. of type .von Wieser dis tinguished the .relative importance of the two. The. translator haz ards the advice, however, that many of the best passages are found In these sections where the author throws aside the logical drive of his main argument and rests by the wayside. It is here that I have most enjoyed the keenness-but more important, the honesty and realism -of his. thought. A translation has cer'tain obvious. disadvantages. There is first the difficulty of a precise rendition of .words .that may usually be perfectly understood by any reader of the original. A Rechtsub jekt is given in the text as the "legal owner" without doing violence to the sense of the text,. although I know of no justification for such .a translation except that it ;avoided either a two-line explanation of a non-essential or a rather shocking Germanism. Kapl:talwidmung is actually a dedication of capital. It is more than saving. But in the course of repetition" a will to dedicate capital" has seemed tome to justify the slight inaccuracy of "a will to save." A few words are quite difficult in their shaded meanings. for one not born. to .German.

Wirtschaft has several related meanings that can only be nicely selected. by the original author. May 1 further beg the occasional sympathy of the reader in rendering words that are adapted to an unusual sense in the original-the rendition of two of which causes a kind critic in Austria to complain, with the addition, "dieStell·e ist a·uch.in Deufschen reichUch unklatr" f In the second pla.ce. certain. words .are either coined or· adapted T RAN S L A TO R ' S PREFACE xv for the entire presentation that carry· a usual English connotation other than that desired in this book. Specific has no meaning in English that even suggests the sense developed in Section 15. At times this is confusing. A referenee to "specific goods" may be conceived to be more particularization, an order to stop thinking of goods as an abstraction and to think instead of cows or wheat. Act ually the author intends thruout to contrast" specific character" with cost-character. To minimize the confusion as far as possible I have never used this word in any other sense than that established in Section 15. Another word, acquisitive, may give occasional pause.

"Natural" is almost always used in opposition to monetary, not to signify something which exists in nature. "Historical" is often used to imply nothing more than an actual condition. Even more serious are subtler obstacles to translation. Von Wie~ ser's language and thinking are· both German. In German even the most involved sentence may have character. In the face of such passages the translator's duty lies in a compromise between offensive transliteration and the danger of a subtle change of meaning as de pendent and qualifying phrases are reordered. It is unnecessary to add that I have done my best to hold the original meaning. Finally there is danger in the translation of a word with shades of meaning in a passage that involves the prejudices. By study of the context and of other passages, and by consultation I have sought never to put into von Wieser's mouth a phrase that would better suit my temper than his convictions. My duty has been that of a trans later who, though he has no responsibility for the ideas set forth and in fact disagrees with them in part, must be completely faithful in their presentation.

Aside from these matters the book has certain characteristics of "rhich American economists should be aware. One section of the book, Section 70, can only be read ag'ainst the background of German corporation law. A few other passages are colored by national in stitutions. In contrast with this natural. limitation are a few archaic illustrations. Von Wieser is describing truths that know no national boundaries, that recognize tim~ Qnly in changing external manifesta tion. The illustration of these truths may therefore be drawn with out particular reference to time. ~Jonetheless the pre-war illustra tions are occasionally startling. The F'ranco-Prussian War is "the last war. " He disregards "our latest acquisition, Bosnia IIerzegovinia. ' , Von Wieser himself explains in his preface that XVI TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE he did not feel it essential to revise his references in the 1924 edition and why.

Parenthetically one may remark that this lack of "window dressing'" is in one sense admirable. For one who believes with von Wieser that in the near future all essentials of the simple economy, all true fundamentals of economic theory, may be established, there is no reason to revise all the illustrations in the book except to make them intelligible to a class whose social experience dates back only to 1923. It is the clearest admission of the limitations of the theory. There is no attempt to hide' abstraction in statistical table revised for the latest· census. The work of translation has been made possible by the cooperation of others. Mr. W. F. G.Geisse of Great Barrington, Mass., prepared a. first draft that enabled me to give especial attention to the economic terminology and the English rendition of the whole. Dr. Friedrich A. von Hayek, a pupil and close friend of von Wieser, has read the proofs and submitted many suggestions. Finally the loyal help and cheerful good humor of my wife pulled this translation thru long evenings of drudgery that inevitably occur as part of such work.

Brown University, A. F. HINRICHS May, 1927.