America’s Neglected Protectionist Tradition

America’s Neglected Protectionist Tradition offers the most comprehensive treatment of the American protectionist school of economic thought, which originated with the ideas of Alexander Hamilton and Tench Coxe, and remained active throughout the nineteenth century. By drawing on the writings of nearly seventy economists and statesmen, the work provides the first systematic account of the philosophy and theory of this neglected economic tradition. In reconstructing their system of thought, America’s Neglected Protectionist Tradition demonstrates that the American protectionists represented a coherent and systematic school of economic thought, and one which rivalled their English classical counterparts. Central to the thinking of the American protectionist tradition is the idea of the economy as dynamic and inventive. Rather than seeing scarce resources as placing fixed limits on economic progress, the American Protectionists looked to invention, human ingenuity, and the diversity of talents and aptitudes as the means of forging the wealth of nations.