author
James Bonar
1852–1941
A Scottish civil servant who built a second life as a respected economist, he became known for clear, thoughtful work on the history of economic ideas. His books helped later readers understand figures such as Malthus, Adam Smith, and Ricardo.
1 Audiobook
Malthus and his work
by James Bonar
About the author
Born on 27 September 1852 in Perthshire and raised in Glasgow, James Bonar was educated at Glasgow Academy, the University of Glasgow, and Balliol College, Oxford. Although he spent his working life in the British civil service, he also developed a strong reputation as a political economist and historian of economic thought.
Bonar is especially remembered for his studies of classical economics and for writing in a way that made difficult ideas approachable. He worked on major thinkers including Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and Thomas Robert Malthus, and he was also noted for helping introduce Austrian economic ideas to English-speaking readers.
He died on 18 January 1941. Today, he is remembered as a scholar who successfully balanced public service with serious intellectual work, leaving behind books that still matter to readers interested in how economic thinking developed.