Introduction

Enlightenment thinkers played a crucial role in shaping early economic thought, focusing on specialisation and market functions. Part of the Markets short course, Thinking Differently About Markets, this lecture explores how financial market theories have been deeply linked to scientific, political, and social changes over the past three centuries, tracing the evolution of economic and financial theories to provide historical context to modern thinking about the markets.

Topics include:

• how Enlightenment thinkers shaped early economic an...