Seckendorff as an Economist in Comparison with Contemporary Writers

Seckendorff’s economic writings are compared with contemporary writers, most importantly with Johann Joachim Becher. There are considerable differences between Seckendorff and Becher with respect to character of personality and also with respect to the political environments within which they acted. Differences in the substance of their writings can often be attributed to these two factors. Seckendorff puts significantly more emphasis on general conditions of production, such as reliability of legal framework, a stable monetary system, etc., while he devotes less attention to interventionist measures of promotion of trades. Therefore, Seckendorff implicitly relies more on the spontaneous forces of economic activity. In comparison, Becher, with his activist eand even impatient attitude, advocates the launching of spectacular projects to accelerate economic development, supporting his proposals with theoretical arguments. There are also important aspects on which their views converge.     

Benevolent Governance and Fiscal Federalism in Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff’s <Emphasis Type="Italic">Teutscher Fürsten Stat</Emphasis> (1656): Comment on Erik S. Reinert

The author comments on Erik S. Reinert’s presentation held at the 17{th} Heilbronn Symposion in Economics and the Social Sciences in June 2004.     

A Brief Introduction to Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff (1626–1692)

Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff is widely regarded as the ‘founder’ of early economics in Germany, of Cameralism. Having survived the horrors of the Thirty Years’ War and the resulting economic, political, and moral breakdown of society, Seckendorff conceived of a holistic science of public administration fit to reconstruct the more than 300 independent German principalities recognized by the Peace of Westphalia. The science he envisioned was both theoretical and practical, covering all the needs of a small principality. The same union of active and contemplative characterizes Seckendorff’s own life, as he devoted himself both to administrating the Court of Gotha and the University of Halle, both to write an “owner’s handbook” to small principalities and one of the most celebrated defenses of Lutheranism. This introduction will explore how these many facets came together in the figure of Seckendorff, what his main influences were, and how the historical context helped shape his writings.     

Cameralism and Commercial Rivalry: Nationbuilding through Economic Autarky in Seckendorff’s 1665 <Emphasis Type="Italic">Additiones</Emphasis>

Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff (1626–1692), one of the earliest proponents of Cameralism, sought to rebuild the German states after the Thirty Years’ War through a variety of new policies, including achieving a high degree of economic autarky. Writing at a time when trade wars and ‘visible hands’ were the order of the day, Seckendorff, like many of his contemporaries, sought to develop domestic productive capacity to escape an excessive and debilitating dependency on foreign powers. His 1665 Additiones to the Teutscher Fürsten-Staat in particular, written after a visit to the economically thriving Dutch Republic, shows how his embryonic Cameralism sought to adapt the clearly observable mechanisms of economic growth in the Low Countries to the peculiarities of the German social and political context.     

Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff’s “Fürsten Stat” and the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha

This paper deals with the formation of the territorial state in Gotha during the time in which Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff was involved, starting in 1640, and with the relations between the theoretical explanations of the state in Seckendorff’s book “Teutscher Fürsten Stat,” first published in 1656, and his political environment in Gotha. It shows that Seckendorff’s maxims often corresponded to real politics there. But at the same time, there were grave differences in such fundamental issues as the personal regimen of the prince and the organization of the administration or the financing of the court.     

The Benevolent Prince in Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff’s <Emphasis Type="Italic">Teutscher Fürsten Stat</Emphasis> with Special Consideration of the Prince’s Revenues,Regalia and Taxes: Comment

The comment considers Seckendorff’s Teutscher Fürsten Stat as an ambitious outline of a developmental strategy, in which predominant role is played by education. On the assumption of this perspective Helge Peukert’s contribution is evaluated and criticised. Alternative interpretations and categorisations pertaining to Seckendorff’s ideas on social and economic policies are offered. Questions of further research regarding the principles of ideal government and guidelines for fiscal policies as propounded by Teutscher Fürsten Statare delineated.