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During last twenty eight centuries, founders of economic thought have distinguished hundreds of economic categories, which include various concepts, rules, laws and theories. In consequence of lack of communication between scientists, some conceptions were discovered repeatedly, in different centres, without reference to each other. Some of them, i.e. marginal utility theory, quantity theory of money, paradox of thrift, law of the lesser currency, and political business cycle theory are discussed in this outline. Polish economists such as Nicolaus Copernicus and Michał Kalecki participated in several multiple discoveries. Przedmiotem badań historii myśli ekonomicznej są przeszłe koncepcje ekonomiczne, które powstawały na przestrzeni dwóch tysięcy ośmiuset lat. Wiele z nich tworzy współczesny system teoretyczny ekonomii. Celem niniejszego opracowania jest zwrócenie uwagi na te wytwory myśli ludzkiej, które historycy nauki nazywają odkryciami wielokrotnymi. W literaturze przedmiotu zagadnienie to było dotychczas zaniedbane, a mniej znanych twórców koncepcji, powstałych w wyniku tych odkryć, całkowicie pomijano. W niniejszym szkicu został również wskazany udział polskich uczonych w odkryciach wielokrotnych.

Adam Smith’s scientific system of economics was announced in 1776. On that occasion no university faculty was created and Smith was not offered the chair of political economics professor. The first economics faculties were opened already before 1776 at German, Austrian, and Italian universities. The first economics professor was S. P. Gasser at the University of Halle, who was then followed by: J. C. Dithmar from the University of Frankfurt on the Oder, J. H. G. von Justi from Theresanium in Vienna, A. Genovesi from the University of Naples, and J. von Sonnenfels at the University of Vienna. After 1776 economics faculties were created at universities in such countries as Poland, Engand, France, and Sweden. In Poland Sz. Malewski was the first political economics professor in Vilnus, D. Krysińaki in Warsaw, J. A. Dunajewski in Lvov, and M. Bochenek in Krakow; in England T. R. Malthus in Haileybuiy was the first political economics professor, in Oxford N. W. Senior, in London J. R. McCulloch, while in Cambridge G. Pryme; in France the first economics faculty was created especially for J. B. Say, and in Sweden D. Davidson was in charge of the first economics faculty.