Edwin Cannan

Edwin Cannan (3 February 1861 – 8 April 1935) was a British economist and historian of economic thought.

Quotes about Cannan

• Edwin Cannan significantly influenced Hayek and many other economists, although, as Hayek noted, the “part he played is little known beyond a rather narrow circle.” Hayek held that Cannan—together with Mises in Vienna and Frank Knight in Chicago—was responsible for the preservation and transmission of classical liberalism during the early decades of the twentieth century.
  • Alan Ebenstein, Hayek's Journey: The Mind of Friedrich Hayek (2003), Ch. 7. From Economic Theory to Political Philosophy

• As Hayek wrote, the role that Edwin Cannan has played in the transmission and development of liberalism is little known. The school of liberal thought he established at the London School of Economics has proven lasting and influential across disciplines. According to economic historian Henry Spiegel, Cannan was “the leading student of classical economics in the England of his time.” Murray Rothbard, who was an excellent historian of economic theory, had a very high opinion of Cannan’s work. Leading contemporary economic historian Denis O’Brien writes that “Cannan’s strong critical attitude and wide scholarship are of great value to economists.”
  • Alan Ebenstein, Hayek's Journey: The Mind of Friedrich Hayek (2003), Ch. 7. From Economic Theory to Political Philosophy