The national political economies experienced by Georg Friedrich List

Abstract

This article – through research based on the reading of the major works of Georg Friedrich List, Economy American Policy Outline and National Economic Policy System, and recent contributions of economic historians – has as the main aim to describe the development path of England, Germany and the United States of America from the eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. To achieve this aim was made a comparison between the descriptions and interpretations of different authors. There was a significant similarity between the content presented by List (1983, 2009) and the interpretations of other economic historians regarding the development of national productive forces. In additions to List’s reports realize that: a) England was the overflowing source of productive knowledge and capital to the most backward nations; b) tariff protection was not as important to national development as was supposed by List (1983); and c) Tilly's (1978) and Philip’s (1980) works provide objective information that allows to specify that German agriculture had its production conditioned by feudal norms from the Middle Ages to the mid-nineteenth century. Among the main aspects of national economies are the nation and the productive forces experienced by List, linking the agricultural, industrial and commercial sectors.