Hume's contribution to modern economics is normally thought of in terms of his early statement of the quantity theory of money, and to a lesser extent his views on trade and development. At a methodological level the influence from his empiricism is commonly traced to the development of econometrics. But if we explore his philosophy more fully, we find a much richer set of ideas which can illuminate the way we approach issues in modern economics. Here therefore we explore Hume's theory of human nature and his theory of knowledge in order to understand how he viewed economic behaviour as inherently bound up in other aspects of life.

Audio podcast recorded Friday 21 October 2011.
Listen to podcast