The Origins of Economic Theory Itself Can Be Traced to Irish Banker Richard CantilIon

It seems clear that Cantillon was an important influence on the development of Austrian economics, and that he can be considered a member of the Austrian School. Carl Menger had a copy of the Essai in his library prior to the publication of The Principles of Economics.

Indeed, the origins of economic theory itself can be traced to CantilIon. William Stanley Jevons, one of the cofounders of the marginalist revolution, and the economist who is generally credited with rediscovering Cantillon, called the Essai "a systematic and connected treatise, going over in a concise manner nearly the whole field of economics.... It is thus the first treatise on economics." He dubbed the work the "Cradle of Political Economy." Joseph Schumpeter, the great historian of economic thought and student of Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, described the Essai as "the first systematic penetration of the field of economics." In his treatise on the history of economic thought, Murray N. Rothbard named Cantillon "the founding father of modern economics."

--Mark Thornton, "Richard Cantillon: The Origin of Economic Theory," in The Great Austrian Economists, ed. Randall G. Holcombe (Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 1999), 13-14.