National System Of Political Economy Volume 2 The Theory

One of the most prominent economic philosophers of the 19th century, on a par with-but espousing quite different thinking than-Karl Marx and Adam Smith explores, in the three-volume National System of Political Economy, a reasoned doctrine of national and pan-national management of trade, a global collaboration between government and business. In Volume 2, he delineates his theory of supportive interconnectedness, discussing everything from the value of the individual's ability to produce wealth to the edge established businesses have over new ones. A close reading of this 1841 classic is an absolute necessity for anyone who hopes to understand world economic history of the last 150 years. German economist and journalist FRIEDRICH LIST (1789-1846) served as professor of administration and politics at the University of T bingen, but was later jailed and later exiled to America for his political views. His is also the author of Outlines of American Political Economy (1827).

Friedrich List's daring economic thesis, which challenges the prevailing theories of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, comprises of four books and appendixes, all of which are contained in this volume. One of the first challenges to the orthodoxy of unfettered free trade, this book undertakes a comparison between the economies of the United States and Germany - who used protectionism - and the economy of Great Britain, which was broadly aligned to free trade. List demonstrates that the unbridled free trade acts to foster inequality and lopsided development; in the case of the British Empire, the colonized lands benefit far less than the colonizers. Domestic industry in Britain during the 19th century was characterized by extreme poverty of the workers; a dire situation which would eventually spur the creation of trade unions. List notices that living standards in Germany and the USA during the 19th century consistently rose. In other nations the correlation between tariffs and protectionism, and general living standards for the wider populace, are established. While tariffs on foreign goods were incrementally imposed, the resulting taxes were reinvested into the domestic economy; industry and public infrastructure were improved, and standards for labor were higher, than those in the laissez-faire economy of Great Britain. A stark opponent of unbridled capitalism, List instead favors a system whereby the state and the business economy work together to create decent conditions for all. He strongly believed that nations had a duty to look after their citizens, create an identity, promote industrial growth and prowess, and regulate both capital and labor to beneficent ends. This is contrasted with free markets, wherein the state's role is minimal and the consequences are shown to be mass exploitation and poverty. List's body of work, while having faded from view somewhat in the modern day, forms an important milestone in economics. They represent the first major departure from laissez-faire system, and their criticisms of unregulated markets still ring true in the modern day. Although marginalized both during and after his lifetime, and scarcely present in many modern economics courses, Friedrich List's writings were a valuable addition to the discourse. The translation of the text to English is by Sampson S. Lloyd, a British politician in the late-19th century who agreed with the arguments List presented.

Friedrich List was one of the most prominent economic philosophers of the 19th century, on a par with-but espousing quite different thinking than-Karl Marx and Adam Smith. In the three-volume National System of Political Economy, he explores a reasoned doctrine of national and pan-national management of trade, a global collaboration between government and business. Presented here in one combined volume, List examines the pronounced influence of freedom prudently balanced with regulation in the economic histories of the nations of Europe and North America, delineates his theory of supportive interconnectedness, and explores the economic and political systems that nurture ascendant nations in their global sovereignty. A close reading of this 1841 classic is an absolute necessity for anyone who hopes to understand world economic history of the last 150 years. German economist and journalist FRIEDRICH LIST (1789-1846) served as professor of administration and politics at the University of T�bingen, but was jailed and later exiled to America for his political views. He is also the author of Outlines of American Political Economy

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1856 edition. Excerpt: ... PEELIMINAET ESSAY. (BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.) It is known to those conversant with the literature of Political Economy, that very great differences of opinion have existed not only in reference to the definitions, but to the terminology of this science. Its masters have not been in harmony as to the ground covered, nor as to the special terms in which its truths or laws were to be expressed. Certain Authors have attained higher repute than others, and the science has been taught, so far as it has been made a subject of special instruction, chiefly from them, or abridgments of them. In the United States it has been tanght either directly from Smith's Wealth of Nations or Say's Political Economy, or from books deriving their doctrines mainly from these two writers. The works now extant expressly devoted to this subject are counted by hundreds, and the Authors are not only many of them of equal ability to the two named, but in not a few instances they are men of larger capacity, better preparation, and superior advantages. Some of them are of high authority, and so regarded by the special disciples of that School of Political Economy, of which Adam Smith is the acknowledged head, and Say an authoritative exponent. A very little attention to the current of these writings will satisfy ' any intelligent and candid inquirer that it is necessary to go far beyond the works of Smith and Say to ascertain what are at present the prevailing opinions of professed political economists; and a pretty extensive survey will be necessary to show what is the present condition of the science. The discordant views of writers, and the want of agreement in the use of terms, early attracted the attention of the leading writers, and scarcely a volume or a tract...

In The National System of Political Economy, List provides a critique of the ideas of Adam Smith and David Ricardo that continues to resonate with policy makers concerned with industrial policy and national economic development. List argues that in contrast with the stylized view of classical economics, real-world economies are organized along national lines and that policy makers can ignore this reality to their peril. The benefits from trade are conditional, rather than universal and the development of sophisticated industry requires carefully designed and sequentially planned state interventions. List provides an early recognition of the existence of distinct stages of economic development, and of the interplay between military power, industrial development and national prosperity. List's work had a formative influence on contemporary strands of thought such as institutional economics and 'national systems of innovation' perspectives and is considered an exemplary of work in the tradition of realist international political economy.