Zagadka robót publicznych Peryklesa

Zbigniew Herbert was a poet, essayist and playwright, but he graduated from the School of Economics in Krakow and he held a master’s degree in economics. Examination the essays from “The New Economic Criticism” angle is indisputably legitimate, even though we are speaking of a literary text. In Herbert’s essays, we find a wide range of economic problems. The essayist takes on micro- and macroeconomics, specific issues like the value of the daily wage of a labourer or the real income of a soldier in Julius Caesar’s army, not to mention such issues as financial crises and stock market booms and busts. He wants to find out the earnings and forms of payment of the royalties to an architect building a Gothic cathedral in medieval France and, in another essay, the prices of paintings in 17th century Netherlands or the artwork trade system in 1960s Paris. The essayist’s inquisitiveness, and above all the complex calculations that aim to establish the actual state of affairs, is supported by a query in professional journals and publications dealing with the history of economy. And it must be admit that Herbert’s knowledge was impressive in this regard and was not limited to general and textbook approaches.