The Curious Tale of Libanius, Grotius and Jacob Viner’s Universal Economy Doctrine

This paper investigates the sources of Jacob Viner’s universal economy doctrine, which is part of his argument that theological arguments for free trade preceded and shaped the economic arguments. Viner’s key source is the influential fourth-century pagan orator Libanius, quoted by Hugo Grotius, but identification of the passage in Libanius has eluded contemporary scholars, even though Viner’s Libanius quotation and the universal economy doctrine it supports has been used in many subsequent works on the history of international trade theory. Investigating the context of the passage and Libanius’ economic views suggests that he meant something very different to the ways that Grotius and Viner and many subsequent authors used the passage. Rather than merely convicting these authors of crimes against the canons of contextual historiography, we suggest that viewing the curious tale of the quotation and its subsequent use through the lens of reception history would be more fruitful.