Ruskin and the Orthodox Political Economists

John Ruskin (1819--1900) is accorded scant respect by students of economic theory. Though he is taken up briefly in some "Principles" and histories and is mentioned in passing in seminars, it is merely to clear away irrelevancies before getting down to serious business. Students of Ruskin might well be dissatisfied with the vagueness of the professional treatment of this great literary man who spent a large part of his life tilting with the English orthodox political economists of his day. Such treatment is, of course, not surprising; better-informned modern amateurs have been more summarily dismissed.