This collection gives immediate access to an extensive range of nineteenth century American writings on trade issues. Many of the pieces selected are rare even in America. Each has been carefully retypeset so that the collection as a whole is attractively presented and easy to read.
Early American economics is often criticised for lacking the theoretical sophistication of European economics. The picture which emerges from these texts is more complex. It seems that far from being of universal application, the ideas of the English classical economists did not fit neatly in the context of nineteenth century America, and it is much harder to draw a sharp doctrinal divide between the protectionists and the free traders.
The texts reproduced discuss:
*'the American system' of protection for infant industries
* the North/South divide in the US, made manifest by the slavery question and the civil war
* the role of institutions in the development of American economic thought.
Taken together they raise a number of critical questions about the standard interpretation of the general controversy on free trade and protection in the nineteenth century.
There are critical ideas in economics which refuse to go away. Debates about such issues as whether economies flourish most under systems of free trade or state intervention, about the determinants of value or the stability of money recur in every era. In many cases earlier generations of economists have made significant and insightful contributions which could illuminate current problems but which are not widely available.
Critical Concepts in the History of Economics aims to remedy this by making available important but rare contributions to economic analysis. Focusing on the questions which have dominated economic thinking for more than three centuries, the series provides major works of reference which make available rich sources of material to a new generation of scholars.