The National System of Political Economy

The power of producing wealth is infinitely more important than wealth itself; it insures not only the possession and the increase of what has been gained, but also the replacement of what has been lost.List’s magnum opus is one of the first books to systematise the arguments for protectionism and the criticisms against unconstrained free trade. With great attention to details and a thorough analysis of history, economics, and politics, List provided a powerful challenge to the orthodox economics of Adam Smith and the idea that unconstrained free trade is always beneficial to everyone involved. History, as demonstrated by List, showed that protectionism is the surest path to prosperity and the only way to build up domestic industries. The lessons of this book influenced the economic policies of the United States, Germany, Japan, and China and continue to exert influence to this day with key ideas such as “infant industry protection” still being popular among economists.Friedrich List was a German economist who popularised the idea of using tariffs and protectionist policies to develop a nation’s domestic industries. He was also a politician actively involved in the establishment of the Zollverein, the German Customs Union that paved the way for the unification of Germany."List was fitted as few have been to read in the book of the world. He went through life with his eyes open for all political and economic phenomena, and each impulse he received he passed on to others. His intercourse with statesmen, scholars, merchants, and manufacturers of all nations gave breadth, depth, and diversity to his knowledge, and continuously influenced by and active in the daily affairs of life, he grew to be a great economist, a far-sighted politician, a most effective and brilliant writer."—Karl Theodor Eheberg Read more