Economic Thought in the Urals in the 18th Century: Clarification of Details, New Names

As part of the European-Asian Symposium on Economic Theory (Yekaterinburg, June 26–28, 2024), a roundtable discussion was held, dedicated to the genesis and development of economic thought in the Urals during the 18th century. The moderator was Yu.G. Lavrikova, D.Sc. in Economics and the Director of the Institute of Economics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The results of the discussion are presented in this article. The roundtable featured an overview of the economic views of prominent statesmen of the 18th century who lived and worked in the Urals, including V.N. Tatishchev, V.I. de Gennin, and P.I. Rychkov. Based on historical sources, it was demonstrated that economic thought in the region evolved in line with the general trends of European economic science of the time, and in some respects, Ural researchers were ahead of their era. The academic expeditions of the 18th century, which contributed to the collection of materials on the economy of the Urals, were also briefly characterized. Additionally, there were proposals to expand the list of Ural economists of that period to include A.A. Vinius, members of the Demidov family, and other local industrialists. Proposals were also made to hold a similar roundtable focusing on economic thought in the Urals in the 19th century.