INTRODUCTORY 
9 
economic studies are not by any means 
exhausted by economic theory. In order 
to comprehend of what distinguishable parts 
economic studies are constituted it will be 
desirable, perhaps, to consider how Economics 
began and how it has developed. 
Economic studies originated, as so many 
other studies, in practical needs on the one 
hand and speculative curiosity on the other. 
In the conduct of business, and particularly 
in the relation of the State to the business 
activities of the community, problems which 
could not be solved offhand were met with ; 
and many of these problems led to lengthy 
controversy. I may instance in particular the 
matter of the currency, and what the policy 
of the State should be with reference to its 
regulation ; the matter of foreign commercial 
intercourse, involving the question as to 
whether a country is necessarily benefited or 
the reverse by every species of commerce 
with its rivals ; and the awkward matter of 
obtaining resources for the State’s activities, 
involving the question of the incidence of the 
burden imposed under different methods of 
securing them. It is comprehensible, there 
fore, that writings which could be classified 
as economic were not very late in appearing 
in the history of civilisation.