Newly Established Economic Journals in the US

The earliest known economics journal was Archiv der politischen Okonomie und Polizeiwissenschaften, which was founded in 1835 by Karl Heinrich Rau (1792—1870), who was a professor of political economy at the University of Heidelberg.

GHSE and Establishment of Economic Associations and Journals 189 Schmollers Jahrbuch after 1913) was founded; it was edited by Brentano until his death in 1931, after which Schmoller took over.

There was no established ‘American school of writers on political econ­omy’ prior to the influence of the GHSE becoming widespread throughout the country (Dunbar 1904, 14). Furthermore, since American economists did not make any notable contributions to the development of political econ­omy at that time, especially when compared to their German counterparts, it should come as no surprise that there were no domestic academic journals where original research could be published. Consequently, American col­leges and universities had little choice other than to provide their staff and students with foreign periodicals, particularly from Germany, like the Jahr- bucher fur Nationalokonomie und Statistik, Jahrbuch fur Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirthschaft, and Tubinger Zeitschrift fur die Gesammte Staatswissenchaft (Ely 1895, 69). In addition to German periodicals, they also frequently pro­vided Journal des Economistes from France and the English Economist, Bradstreets, and Banker's Magazine from the UK (ibid.).

Before the GHSE attained prominence in the US, American economists focused much of their attention on preparing textbooks for college instruc­tion, because they were ‘chiefly interested in bringing principles previously worked out by others within the easy comprehension of under-graduate students’ (Dunbar 1904, 13). This approach was not conducive to making discoveries or advances in political economy, as such publications had an ‘ab­solute disregard of the existence of those who hold other views’ (Patten 1895, 134). However, the eventual return of American students from Germany sig­nificantly changed this scene, as they wanted to establish American journals and periodicals that could publish high-quality scholarly work on economic issues and questions, so that they would be respected and on par with the scientific status of their German counterparts.

The AEA started printing Publications of the American Economic Association in 1886. Initially, it published monthly monographs, while its annual conference involved the presentation of many articles. Then, in 1900, this publication became a regular quarterly monograph series, which featured articles dis­cussing the economic issues, concerns and problems of the time, while also providing reports about the annual meeting of the AEA. In 1908, Publications of the American Economic Association separated into two different journals: the Economic Bulletin and the American Economic Association Quarterly. They both published articles separately until 1910. However, in 1911, the Economic Bul­letin and the American Economic Association Quarterly merged back together to form The American Economic Review, which went on to become one of the most prestigious academic journals in the field of economics.

A number of economic journals were also established at American uni­versities. For example, the QJE was founded at Harvard University in 1886, making it the first professional journal of economics in the English speaking world (Eliot 1900).

belonging to different schools of economic thought, including the Austrian School of Economics, the GHSE, the New School, the Old School, and Clas­sical Economics. Dunbar was appointed as the first editor of the QJE and remained in ‘charge from 1886 to 1896’ (Taussig 1901, 573). In 1896, he was succeeded by Taussig, who remained editor of the QJE until 1935, though Carver also served in that capacity from 1901 to 1904 and from 1918 to 1922. However, it was the early work of Dunbar that was credited with setting a high standard at the QJE, thereby solidifying ‘the position of the Journal in this country and in Europe as a valuable medium for economic discussions and researches’ (Eliot 1900, 480). He was successful from ‘the outset in mak­ing for the Journal a distinguished place in the literature of the subject’ (Taus­sig 1904, XIV). In fact, the QJE became ‘a medium of communication for investigators, and took rank at once as one of the leading scholarly repertories on its subject’ (Taussig 1901, 574). For internationally renowned academics, having their works published in the QJE ‘served as guarantee of a claim to the attention of the learned world’ (ibid.). It has even been suggested that Dunbar’s contributions led to the QJE playing a major role in ‘stimulating the remarkable advance of economic science which took place in the United States in the decade after its establishment’ (Taussig 1904, XIV).

In 1886, the same year that the QJE was established, the PSQ was founded by Columbia University Professor John William Burgess (1844—1931), though Seligman also played an instrumental role in launching it. Although its title did not include any references to economics, it actually had ‘considerable economic content’ (Barber 2001, 228). The PSQ was dedicated to historical studies, statistics, and the comparative study of politics, economics, and public law.

In 1890, the AAPSS launched the ANNALS, a policy and scientific jour­nal covering political and social science, which served ‘as a bimonthly journal for the Academy’s scholarship’ (AAPSS 1889). It published academic articles that mainly focused on the current issues of the time in a broad array of social science disciplines, which included topics like economic theory, banking, education, finance, institutional history, international law, jurisprudence, po­litical institutions, political reforms, taxation, and transportation. The AN­NALS also featured ‘a large number of papers submitted to the Academy’ that were read and discussed at its meetings (AAPSS 1897, 7). This resulted in a ‘stimulating influence’ on the scientific research of scholars in the areas of political and social science (ibid.). Some of the well-known contributing au­thors to this publication included Ashley, Bemis, J. B. Clark, Ely, Commons, Cunningham, Falkner, Hadley, James, Kinley, Patten, Ross, Schmoller, and Walras.

In 1892, ‘to promote the image of Yale political economy,’ Farnam re­launched The Yale Review: A Quarterly Journal of History and Political Science, which had previously been known as the New Englander since 1843 (Barber 1993, 165). Farnam also served as its editor from 1892 until 1911, the year it was transformed into a literary magazine. Originally, Farnam wanted Yale’s

GHSE and Establishment of Economic Associations and Journals 191 journal to be competitive in ‘the learned journal market with rival institu­tions, particularly’ the QJE of Harvard and the PSQ of Columbia (ibid.). What really distinguished The Yale Review from these other two journals was that it was receptive to ‘historical materials’ (ibid.). It also published articles on the philosophy of economics, the history of economics, and the history of economic thought. However, it did not offer any ‘space for articles in mathe­matical economics’ (ibid.).

Laughlin, who was an adherent of the Old School, established the Journal of Political Economy in 1892. It was published by the University of Chicago Press and focused on highly specialized articles covering a variety of economic issues, as well as economic theory. During the 1890s, the Journal of Political Economy of the University of Chicago, the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and The Yale Review were ‘in direct competi­tion with the AEA’s search for quality materials for its own publishing pro­gramme’ (Barber 2001, 228). In fact, these ‘journal-publishing universities, acting on their perceived self-interest, effectively blocked the creation of a quarterly journal sponsored by the AEA: The American Economic Review did not come into existence until’ 1911 (ibid.: 229).

In their early days, all these economic journals that were established by adherents of the New School primarily focused on addressing many of the same economic questions and issues being pondered by their counterparts in Germany. Also, many of the articles that American economists published in these journals referred to books and articles written by prominent theorists of the GHSE, including Wagner, Schmoller, Conrad, Roscher, and Knies, among others.