3/2015 The Liberal Sources of Bulgarian Theoretical Economy: the Contributions of Simeon Demostenov and Naum Dolinski
Issued in Thursday, December 24, 2015
Unlike the well known wave of German-speaking economists-émigrés during the interwar, the Russian-speaking emigration has not been subject to a systematic analysis. Chronologically, the Russian emigration was the first (after the arrival of the Bolsheviks to power in 1917) and not of less significance than the German-speaking emigration. The Russian emigration also makes important contributions to "high economic theory" and it is essential for the formation of the scientific and economic communities and traditions in several of South East European countries (Bulgaria, former Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, etc.). The majority of émigré Russian economists shared the liberal economic views, studied in Germany and Austria. Our interest in these economists is a result of the observation that the research made by some of them offers an original synthesis of the main ideas of the Austrian school (especially those of Carl Menger) and the key elements of Russian economic thought, especially the original liberal theory system of Peter Struve. The ignorance of this synthesis is a missed opportunity for further development of Menger’s theory, as well as a differentiation of a specific variant of the Austrian School. In this article we analyze the contributions of two main representative of this synthesis, namely Simeon Demostenov (1886-1966) and Naum Dolinski (1890-1968).