America's Neglected Protectionist Tradition
The Economics That Forged a Nation

America’s Neglected Protectionist Tradition offers the definitive treatment of the American protectionist school of economic thought, which originated with the ideas of Alexander Hamilton and remained active throughout the nineteenth century. This work provides a comprehensive account of the philosophy and theory of this neglected economic tradition.

In reconstructing their system of theory, America’s Neglected Protectionist Tradition demonstrates that the American protectionists represented a coherent and systematic school of economic thought, and one which rivaled 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 individual talents and aptitudes as the means of forging the wealth of nations.