2. The Role of Merchants in the Exchange Economy: A Historical Perspective

This paper aims to discuss the relationship between economic theory and market economy from a new historical angle. Historically speaking, Werner Sombart seems to be a man in paradox. Although he was once a famous professor at Berlin, he became an almost forgotten man after the Second World War. In the 1990s, however, we saw a remarkable comeback of Sombart, named the Sombart Renaissance; his work on the role of capitalist spirit played in the three stages of capitalism is now worth serious investigation. In contrast, John Hicks has mainly been regarded as an important theoretician of general equilibrium and welfare, but his later work on economic history is also worthy of vital consideration. Hicks pays special attention to the role of merchant played in the exchange economy. By comparing the works of Sombart and Hicks in many ways, we can shed new light on the immortal problem of the relationship between Theory and History. We strongly believe that Ohmi merchants of Japan give us very good examples of the Hicks-type mercantile economy. Hicks has emphasized that the trade should comply with the “principle of all-round advantage.” Certainly, it corresponds well to the “principle of sampo-yoshi” obeyed by Ohmi merchants: namely, the principle of being good for a seller, good for a buyer, and good for the society.” We also would like to add that Ohmi merchants acted as lively players with capitalistic spirits a la Sombart. In short, we can learn a set of new lessons from the old teachings of Sombart and Hicks.