Correspondence and political economy in Spain (1809-1813). The epistolary relation with Jean-Baptiste Say and Jeremy Bentham

Abstract

The correspondence of the Spanish authors with foreign economists allows us to study the transmission of economic ideas and the place of Economics in Spain during the first half of the 19th century. The epistolary relation with Jean-Baptiste Say and Jeremy Bentham, both principal protagonists of Classical Economics, adds more arguments to defend the connection of the Spanish authors with the canonical works on economic theory, education and economic policy. Here, the letter turns out to be at a higher stage than the translation, or the elaboration of national text on Economics. This leap in search of excellence does not seem compatible with the description of isolated and retarded intellectual elites.