Filip Birsen. The Early History of Economics in the United States. Routledge,2022. — 268 p. 2022

Since the latter half of the 20th century, the economics departments of American universities were internationally renowned for providing competitive and advanced levels of education. However, from the 1870s up until the beginning of WWI, German universities held international supremacy when it came to the quality of teaching, the enrollment of foreign students, and scholarly publications. This book examines the role of the German Historical School of Economics (GHSE) in the development of the discipline of economics in the US during this period. The chapters explain that, prior to the influence of the GHSE, political economy was in a dismal state in the US, both as a profession and an academic discipline. As a result, many Americans elected to go to Germany in pursuit of an advanced education in political economy, having been inspired by the unmatched international reputations of theorists of the GHSE. After they returned home, these German-trained Americans challenged the dominant status of classical orthodoxy and revolutionized the discipline of economics in the US by importing the ideas, methods, and approaches of the GHSE. In doing so, they established the first dedicated political economy departments, graduate programs, and chairs at American universities and colleges. Although the precise magnitude and value of the influence of the GHSE is impossible to quantify, there is no doubt that Americans are deeply indebted to this school of thought for its contributions to the early development of the discipline of economics in the US. The chapters also examine what has been lost since: the current mainstream in economics has eliminated many of the features that were once so important to the discipline that it has effectively limited contemporary economics to a small fraction of the complex organism defined by the German Historical School. This situation has facilitated the poverty of the leading economic school of thought, as well as the discipline of economics in general. This book represents a significant contribution to the literature on the history of economic thought and economic education in the US. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars of economics, political science, sociology, and the philosophy of economics.

Books and textbooks on the discipline History of economic scientists:

1. Faccarello G., Silvant C. (eds.). A History of Economic Thought in France: Political Economy in the Age of Enlightenment. Routledge,2023. — 291 p - 2023 ãîä
2. Faccarello G., Silvant C. (eds.). A History of Economic Thought in France: The Long Nineteenth Century. Routledge,2023. — 438 p - 2023 ãîä
3. Cord Robert A. (ed.). The Palgrave Companion to Oxford Economics. Palgrave Macmillan,2021. — 819 p - 2021 ãîä
4. Corsi M., Kregel J., D’Ippoliti C. (Eds.). Classical Economics Today: Essays in Honor of Alessandro Roncaglia. Anthem Press,2018. — 275 p - 2018 ãîä
5. Crotty J.R.. Keynes Against Capitalism: His Economic Case for Liberal Socialism. London: Routledge,2018. — 410 p - 2018 ãîä
6. Day R.B., Gaido D.F. (eds). Responses to Marx’s Capital. Leiden: Brill,2017. — 856 p - 2017 ãîä
7. Faccarello G., Kurz H.-D.. Handbook on the history of economic analysis. Volume III, Developments in major fields of economics. Edward Elgar,2016. — 659 p - 2016 ãîä
8. Faccarello G., Kurz H.D.(eds.). Handbook on the History of Economic Analysis, Volume 1: Great Economists Since Petty and Boisguilbert. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar,2016. — 813 p. - 2016 ãîä
9. Faccarello G., Kurz H.D.(eds.). Handbook on the History of Economic Analysis. Volume II: Schools of Thought in Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar,2016. — 498 p - 2016 ãîä
10. Barnett Vincent (ed.). Routledge Handbook of the History of Global Economic Thought. Routledge,2015. — 359 p - 2015 ãîä
11. Brown M. Adam Smith's. Economics: Its Place in the Development of Economic Thought. London: Taylor & Francis Group,2010. — 202 p - 2010 ãîä
12. Folbre N.. Greed, Lust and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas. Oxford University Press,2010. - 304 pages - 2010 ãîä
13. Allen R.C., Bengtsson T., Dribe M.. Living Standards in the Past: New Perspectives on Well-Being in Asia and Europe. Oxford University Press,2005. - 495 p. - 2005 ãîä
14. Caporaso J.A., Levine D.P.. Theories of Political Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1992. — 253 p. - 1992 ãîä
15. Barber William J.. A history of economic thought. Penguin,1967. — 153 p - 1967 ãîä