Rae and the Tradition of Scottish Political Economy

Abstract

The purpose of the chapter is to investigate how far Rae is representative of the Scottish Political Economy Tradition, where tradition is understood in terms of continuity in a shared approach, allowing for theoretical differences. While Rae conforms to most features identified with the Scottish tradition, his opposition to Smith’s methodology suggests a divergence of approach which would put him outside the tradition. It is argued here that this divergence applies only to Rae’s professed methodology, not to his practice.