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Life of Friedrich List and selections from his writings; by Margaret E. Hirst with an introduction by F. W. Hirst. 1909 [Leather Bound]
Leather Binding on Spine and Corners with Golden Leaf Printing on round Spine (extra customization on request like complete leather, Golden Screen printing in Front, Color Leather, Colored book etc.) Reprinted in 2018 with the help of original edition published long back [1909]. This book is printed in black & white, sewing binding for longer life, printed on high quality Paper, re-sized as per Current standards, professionally processed without changing its contents. As these are old books, we processed each page manually and make them readable but in some cases some pages which are blur or missing or black spots. If it is multi volume set, then it is only single volume, if you wish to order a specific or all the volumes you may contact us. We expect that you will understand our compulsion in these books. We found this book important for the readers who want to know more about our old treasure so we brought it back to the shelves. Hope you will like it and give your comments and suggestions. - eng, Pages 366. EXTRA 10 DAYS APART FROM THE NORMAL SHIPPING PERIOD WILL BE REQUIRED FOR LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. COMPLETE LEATHER WILL COST YOU EXTRA US$ 25 APART FROM THE LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. {FOLIO EDITION IS ALSO AVAILABLE.} Complete Life of Friedrich List and selections from his writings; by Margaret E. Hirst ... with an introduction by F. W. Hirst. 1909 Hirst, Margaret Esther.
366 pages, Leather Bound
First published July 1, 2009
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October 4, 2022
ENGLISH
This review actually refers to the book “Letters from the National Economy against Free Trade”, which doesn’t exist on Goodreads. It is a book published in Brazil, containing the translation into Portuguese of works by Alexander Hamilton, Friedrich List, Henry Carey and other theorists of the economic school called “National System of Political Economy” or “American System of Political Economy”. I’m putting this review here as this book has more thematic pertinence with the book reviewed.
The strangeness with the theme of this book begins with its title.: “Letters from the National Economy Against Free Trade”. “National Economy” of which country? And who can be “Against Free Trade”? It is true that the way in which the study of economics in the world has evolved makes this second part of the title almost blasphemous.
The book is a collection of works advocating the adoption of protectionist tariffs by countries in favor of their nascent industries. The authors believe that this is the best strategy for the development of a country. The school of thought in reference is a theoretical movement practically stillborn. It is largely unknown today, given the overwhelming predominance of the Liberal school in academia, based on the work of Adam Smith and generations after generations of his followers.
The book brings together works by leading authors of the aforementioned school, including one of the founding fathers of the USA and the country's first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, with his “Report on Manufactures” (my review on Goodreads here: https://www .goodreads.com/review/show/4873246664), by the German economist Friedrich List, one of the main theorists of the movement, with his “Outline of a System of American Political Economy”, quite dedicated to refuting the liberal theory of Adam Smith (my review of his major work here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), by US-based Irishman Henry Carey, with his letters to the editor of The London Times, a liberal-leaning newspaper of that time, and some texts by modern authors analyzing the applicability of the postulates of that school to the economy of the world and Brazil today.
The idea of “National Economy” or “National System” is due to the fact that the school advocated the development of the internal markets of the countries, through tariff protection of manufactures in foreign trade, in contrast to the vision of free trade regardless of frontiers of the Liberal school. It is also called the “American System”, as the school was based precisely on the moment of affirmation of the USA in the face of its then recent past as a colony of the United Kingdom. The authors of this school saw in Economic Liberalism, inaugurated by Adam Smith and reaffirmed by Jean-Baptiste Say, the theoretical instrumentalization of English domination in world trade: England practiced protectionism of its industry and agriculture during Mercantilism and started to defend freedom of commerce when it achieved superiority in world trade.
Despite the failure of the “National” school in the academic field, surpassed by the Liberal school, reality seems consistent with its worldview. Far from liberal postulates, which are based on the idea of comparative advantages - already present in Smith and developed by David Ricardo - protectionism has always been a reality in international trade, not only for industries, which is the original concern of the “National” school, but also for agriculture. Countries that claim to be or are traditionally regarded as liberal, practice protectionism both for their industries and for their agriculture. The US has always protected its industries through policies aimed at boosting technological development, notably military, with a multi-billion-dollar budget for the Department of Defense and an active policy of public procurement. Even the England of Margaret Thatcher, regarded as an almost pure liberal government, saved aircraft manufacturer Rolls Royce from bankruptcy in the 1980s. In today's international trade, industrial protectionism gains even greater momentum with both US and Europe’s controls and impediments to foreign investment in their territories clearly in the face of China's advance on worldwide trade.
Although the “National” school did not advance in academia, it certainly left descendants - the so-called developmental schools - which start from the same assumptions. It is even claimed that successful economic policies adopted by countries such as Japan and South Korea were inspired by Friedrich List.
Despite the failure of the “National” school as an academic branch, its descendants remain active, although outside the so-called mainstream (heterodoxy) and their analyzes and diagnoses seem alive and functioning.
However, as stated in my review of “Report on Manufactures” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), industrial policies can be disastrous, with many examples of failures – including in Brazil. In essence, protecting an industry can mean corruption and rent seeking in the choosing of the industries and sectors to protect, as well as wasteful spending by taxpayers and inefficiencies for markets, with price increases and worsening product quality.
On the other hand, it seems infeasible for a country to leave the underdevelopment stage without policies aimed at stimulating innovation, especially of its industries, seeking to place it on the world's technological frontier, especially in activities whose risk is too high for the private sector. Another point is that, the search of a country for industrial technological catch up may already be a late step as the world economy moves more and more towards sophisticated services.
PORTUGUÊS
Esta resenha na realidade se refere ao livro “Cartas da Economia Nacional contra o Livre Comércio “, que não existe aqui no Goodreads. É um livro editado no Brasil, contendo a tradução para o português de textos de Alexander Hamilton, Friedrich List, Henry Carey e outros teóricos da escola econômica chamada “Sistema Nacional de Economia Política” ou “Sistema Americano de Economia Política”. Coloco esta revisão neste livro pela maior proximidade temática com o livro desenhado.
O estranhamento com o tema deste livro começa com seu título: “Cartas da Economia Nacional Contra o Livre Comércio”. “Economia Nacional” de que país? E quem pode ser “Contra o Livre Comércio”?
É certo que o modo como evoluiu o estudo da Economia no mundo torna essa segunda parte do título quase uma blasfêmia. O livro é uma coletânea de textos defendendo a adoção de taxas alfandegárias por países com indústrias nascentes para protegê-las e desenvolvê-las. Os autores acreditam que essa é a melhor estratégia para o desenvolvimento de um país. Encontram-se ali textos da escola que veio a ser chamada de “Sistema Nacional de Economia Política” ou “Sistema Americano de Economia Política”, movimento teórico praticamente natimorto, amplamente desconhecido atualmente, dada a avassaladora predominância da escola Liberal no pensamento econômico, especialmente na academia, a partir da obra de Adam Smith e gerações e gerações de seus seguidores.
O livro reúne textos de autores importantes da referida escola, incluindo de um dos pais fundadores dos EUA e primeiro Secretário do Tesouro do país, Alexander Hamilton, com seu “Relatório sobre as Manufaturas” (minha resenha no Goodreads aqui: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), do economista alemão Friedrich List, um dos principais teóricos do movimento, com seu “Esboço de Sistema de Economia Política Americana”, bastante dedicado a refutar a teoria liberal de Adam Smith (minha resenha de sua principal obra aqui: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), do irlandês radicado nos EUA, Henry Carey, com suas cartas para o editor do The London Times, periódico de inclinação liberal da época, e alguns textos de autores modernos analisando a aplicabilidade dos postulados da referida escola à economia do mundo e do Brasil de hoje.
A ideia de “Economia Nacional” ou “Sistema Nacional” se deve ao fato de que a escola propugnava o desenvolvimento dos mercados internos dos países, por meio de proteção tarifária das manufaturas no comércio exterior, em contraposição com a visão de comércio livre independente de fronteiras da escola Liberal. Chama-se também de “Sistema Americano”, pois a escola tinha por base justamente o momento de afirmação dos EUA em face de seu passado recente de colônia do Reino Unido. Os autores dessa escola viam no Liberalismo Econômico inaugurado por Adam Smith e reafirmado por Jean-Baptiste Say a instrumentalização teórica da dominação inglesa no comércio mundial: a Inglaterra praticou protecionismo de sua indústria e agricultura durante o Mercantilismo e, quando conquistou superioridade no comércio mundial, passou a defender liberdade de comércio.
Apesar do insucesso da escola “Nacional” no âmbito acadêmico, sobrepujada que foi pela escola Liberal, a realidade parece condizente com sua visão de mundo. Muito distante dos postulados liberais, que se baseiam na ideia de vantagens comparativas - presente já em Smith e desenvolvida por David Ricardo - o protecionismo é uma realidade do comércio internacional desde sempre, não só para a indústria, que é o alvo de preocupação original da referida escola “Nacional”, mas também para a agricultura. Países que se dizem ou são tradicionalmente tidos por liberais praticam protecionismo seja para suas indústrias como também para suas agriculturas. Os EUA sempre protegeram suas indústrias por meio de políticas voltadas ao fomento e desenvolvimento tecnológico, notadamente militar, com orçamento bilionário para o Departamento de Defesa e política ativa de compras públicas. Mesmo a Inglaterra, de Margaret Thatcher, tida como um marco no governo liberal, salvou a Rolls Royce da quebra na década de 80. No comércio internacional atual, o protecionismo industrial ganha fôlego ainda maior com controles e impedimentos de investimentos estrangeiros por parte dos EUA e da Europa, nitidamente em face do avanço da China.
Ainda que a escola “Nacional” não tenha avançado na academia, certamente deixou descendentes - as chamadas escolas desenvolvimentistas - que partem dos mesmos pressupostos. Afirma-se, inclusive, que políticas econômicas bem sucedidas adotadas por países como Japão e Coreia do Sul foram inspiradas em Friedrich List.
Apesar do fracasso da escola “Nacional” como vertente acadêmica, seus descendentes continuam ativos, embora fora do chamado mainstream (heterodoxos) e suas análises e diagnósticos parecem vivos e funcionando na realidade.
No entanto, como afirmado na resenha de “Report on Manufactures” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), políticas industriais podem ser desastrosas, contando com muitos exemplos de fracassos - inclusive no Brasil. Em essência, proteger uma indústria pode significar corrupção e rent seeking na escolha das indústrias e setores a serem protegidos, bem como gastos inúteis dos contribuintes e ineficiências para os mercados, com aumentos de preços e piora da qualidade dos produtos.
Por outro lado, sem políticas visando a estimular a inovação, especialmente na indústria de um país, de modo a colocá-lo na fronteira tecnológica mundial, especialmente em atividades cujo risco seja elevado demais para a iniciativa privada, parece infactível que um país saia do estágio de subdesenvolvimento. Outro ponto a ser observar é que, com o caminhar da economia mundial cada vez mais para serviços sofisticados, a busca de um país pelo catch up tecnológico industrial pode já ser um passo atrasado.
This review actually refers to the book “Letters from the National Economy against Free Trade”, which doesn’t exist on Goodreads. It is a book published in Brazil, containing the translation into Portuguese of works by Alexander Hamilton, Friedrich List, Henry Carey and other theorists of the economic school called “National System of Political Economy” or “American System of Political Economy”. I’m putting this review here as this book has more thematic pertinence with the book reviewed.
The strangeness with the theme of this book begins with its title.: “Letters from the National Economy Against Free Trade”. “National Economy” of which country? And who can be “Against Free Trade”? It is true that the way in which the study of economics in the world has evolved makes this second part of the title almost blasphemous.
The book is a collection of works advocating the adoption of protectionist tariffs by countries in favor of their nascent industries. The authors believe that this is the best strategy for the development of a country. The school of thought in reference is a theoretical movement practically stillborn. It is largely unknown today, given the overwhelming predominance of the Liberal school in academia, based on the work of Adam Smith and generations after generations of his followers.
The book brings together works by leading authors of the aforementioned school, including one of the founding fathers of the USA and the country's first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, with his “Report on Manufactures” (my review on Goodreads here: https://www .goodreads.com/review/show/4873246664), by the German economist Friedrich List, one of the main theorists of the movement, with his “Outline of a System of American Political Economy”, quite dedicated to refuting the liberal theory of Adam Smith (my review of his major work here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), by US-based Irishman Henry Carey, with his letters to the editor of The London Times, a liberal-leaning newspaper of that time, and some texts by modern authors analyzing the applicability of the postulates of that school to the economy of the world and Brazil today.
The idea of “National Economy” or “National System” is due to the fact that the school advocated the development of the internal markets of the countries, through tariff protection of manufactures in foreign trade, in contrast to the vision of free trade regardless of frontiers of the Liberal school. It is also called the “American System”, as the school was based precisely on the moment of affirmation of the USA in the face of its then recent past as a colony of the United Kingdom. The authors of this school saw in Economic Liberalism, inaugurated by Adam Smith and reaffirmed by Jean-Baptiste Say, the theoretical instrumentalization of English domination in world trade: England practiced protectionism of its industry and agriculture during Mercantilism and started to defend freedom of commerce when it achieved superiority in world trade.
Despite the failure of the “National” school in the academic field, surpassed by the Liberal school, reality seems consistent with its worldview. Far from liberal postulates, which are based on the idea of comparative advantages - already present in Smith and developed by David Ricardo - protectionism has always been a reality in international trade, not only for industries, which is the original concern of the “National” school, but also for agriculture. Countries that claim to be or are traditionally regarded as liberal, practice protectionism both for their industries and for their agriculture. The US has always protected its industries through policies aimed at boosting technological development, notably military, with a multi-billion-dollar budget for the Department of Defense and an active policy of public procurement. Even the England of Margaret Thatcher, regarded as an almost pure liberal government, saved aircraft manufacturer Rolls Royce from bankruptcy in the 1980s. In today's international trade, industrial protectionism gains even greater momentum with both US and Europe’s controls and impediments to foreign investment in their territories clearly in the face of China's advance on worldwide trade.
Although the “National” school did not advance in academia, it certainly left descendants - the so-called developmental schools - which start from the same assumptions. It is even claimed that successful economic policies adopted by countries such as Japan and South Korea were inspired by Friedrich List.
Despite the failure of the “National” school as an academic branch, its descendants remain active, although outside the so-called mainstream (heterodoxy) and their analyzes and diagnoses seem alive and functioning.
However, as stated in my review of “Report on Manufactures” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), industrial policies can be disastrous, with many examples of failures – including in Brazil. In essence, protecting an industry can mean corruption and rent seeking in the choosing of the industries and sectors to protect, as well as wasteful spending by taxpayers and inefficiencies for markets, with price increases and worsening product quality.
On the other hand, it seems infeasible for a country to leave the underdevelopment stage without policies aimed at stimulating innovation, especially of its industries, seeking to place it on the world's technological frontier, especially in activities whose risk is too high for the private sector. Another point is that, the search of a country for industrial technological catch up may already be a late step as the world economy moves more and more towards sophisticated services.
PORTUGUÊS
Esta resenha na realidade se refere ao livro “Cartas da Economia Nacional contra o Livre Comércio “, que não existe aqui no Goodreads. É um livro editado no Brasil, contendo a tradução para o português de textos de Alexander Hamilton, Friedrich List, Henry Carey e outros teóricos da escola econômica chamada “Sistema Nacional de Economia Política” ou “Sistema Americano de Economia Política”. Coloco esta revisão neste livro pela maior proximidade temática com o livro desenhado.
O estranhamento com o tema deste livro começa com seu título: “Cartas da Economia Nacional Contra o Livre Comércio”. “Economia Nacional” de que país? E quem pode ser “Contra o Livre Comércio”?
É certo que o modo como evoluiu o estudo da Economia no mundo torna essa segunda parte do título quase uma blasfêmia. O livro é uma coletânea de textos defendendo a adoção de taxas alfandegárias por países com indústrias nascentes para protegê-las e desenvolvê-las. Os autores acreditam que essa é a melhor estratégia para o desenvolvimento de um país. Encontram-se ali textos da escola que veio a ser chamada de “Sistema Nacional de Economia Política” ou “Sistema Americano de Economia Política”, movimento teórico praticamente natimorto, amplamente desconhecido atualmente, dada a avassaladora predominância da escola Liberal no pensamento econômico, especialmente na academia, a partir da obra de Adam Smith e gerações e gerações de seus seguidores.
O livro reúne textos de autores importantes da referida escola, incluindo de um dos pais fundadores dos EUA e primeiro Secretário do Tesouro do país, Alexander Hamilton, com seu “Relatório sobre as Manufaturas” (minha resenha no Goodreads aqui: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), do economista alemão Friedrich List, um dos principais teóricos do movimento, com seu “Esboço de Sistema de Economia Política Americana”, bastante dedicado a refutar a teoria liberal de Adam Smith (minha resenha de sua principal obra aqui: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), do irlandês radicado nos EUA, Henry Carey, com suas cartas para o editor do The London Times, periódico de inclinação liberal da época, e alguns textos de autores modernos analisando a aplicabilidade dos postulados da referida escola à economia do mundo e do Brasil de hoje.
A ideia de “Economia Nacional” ou “Sistema Nacional” se deve ao fato de que a escola propugnava o desenvolvimento dos mercados internos dos países, por meio de proteção tarifária das manufaturas no comércio exterior, em contraposição com a visão de comércio livre independente de fronteiras da escola Liberal. Chama-se também de “Sistema Americano”, pois a escola tinha por base justamente o momento de afirmação dos EUA em face de seu passado recente de colônia do Reino Unido. Os autores dessa escola viam no Liberalismo Econômico inaugurado por Adam Smith e reafirmado por Jean-Baptiste Say a instrumentalização teórica da dominação inglesa no comércio mundial: a Inglaterra praticou protecionismo de sua indústria e agricultura durante o Mercantilismo e, quando conquistou superioridade no comércio mundial, passou a defender liberdade de comércio.
Apesar do insucesso da escola “Nacional” no âmbito acadêmico, sobrepujada que foi pela escola Liberal, a realidade parece condizente com sua visão de mundo. Muito distante dos postulados liberais, que se baseiam na ideia de vantagens comparativas - presente já em Smith e desenvolvida por David Ricardo - o protecionismo é uma realidade do comércio internacional desde sempre, não só para a indústria, que é o alvo de preocupação original da referida escola “Nacional”, mas também para a agricultura. Países que se dizem ou são tradicionalmente tidos por liberais praticam protecionismo seja para suas indústrias como também para suas agriculturas. Os EUA sempre protegeram suas indústrias por meio de políticas voltadas ao fomento e desenvolvimento tecnológico, notadamente militar, com orçamento bilionário para o Departamento de Defesa e política ativa de compras públicas. Mesmo a Inglaterra, de Margaret Thatcher, tida como um marco no governo liberal, salvou a Rolls Royce da quebra na década de 80. No comércio internacional atual, o protecionismo industrial ganha fôlego ainda maior com controles e impedimentos de investimentos estrangeiros por parte dos EUA e da Europa, nitidamente em face do avanço da China.
Ainda que a escola “Nacional” não tenha avançado na academia, certamente deixou descendentes - as chamadas escolas desenvolvimentistas - que partem dos mesmos pressupostos. Afirma-se, inclusive, que políticas econômicas bem sucedidas adotadas por países como Japão e Coreia do Sul foram inspiradas em Friedrich List.
Apesar do fracasso da escola “Nacional” como vertente acadêmica, seus descendentes continuam ativos, embora fora do chamado mainstream (heterodoxos) e suas análises e diagnósticos parecem vivos e funcionando na realidade.
No entanto, como afirmado na resenha de “Report on Manufactures” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), políticas industriais podem ser desastrosas, contando com muitos exemplos de fracassos - inclusive no Brasil. Em essência, proteger uma indústria pode significar corrupção e rent seeking na escolha das indústrias e setores a serem protegidos, bem como gastos inúteis dos contribuintes e ineficiências para os mercados, com aumentos de preços e piora da qualidade dos produtos.
Por outro lado, sem políticas visando a estimular a inovação, especialmente na indústria de um país, de modo a colocá-lo na fronteira tecnológica mundial, especialmente em atividades cujo risco seja elevado demais para a iniciativa privada, parece infactível que um país saia do estágio de subdesenvolvimento. Outro ponto a ser observar é que, com o caminhar da economia mundial cada vez mais para serviços sofisticados, a busca de um país pelo catch up tecnológico industrial pode já ser um passo atrasado.
July 18, 2025
Margaret Hirst’s The Life of Friedrich List (1909) remains a foundational biographical study of the 19th-century German political economist Friedrich List (1789–1846), whose advocacy of national economic development and critique of classical liberalism have granted him enduring relevance. Hirst’s work is a meticulous and sympathetic portrayal, grounded in both documentary evidence and an interpretive lens shaped by the currents of early 20th-century historiography. Her biography not only reconstructs the trajectory of List’s life—from his early career in Württemberg to his exile in the United States, and finally his role in the economic debates surrounding German unification—but also serves as an indirect critique of the cosmopolitan economic liberalism dominant in her own day.
Hirst’s scholarship is both archival and analytical. Drawing on correspondence, political pamphlets, and List’s published works—including Outlines of American Political Economy (1827) and Das nationale System der politischen Ökonomie (1841)—she weaves together personal and intellectual development, contextualizing List’s evolving thought within the political fragmentation of post-Napoleonic Germany and the industrial dynamism of the United States. Her portrait of List as both a nationalist and an international thinker is particularly nuanced; she emphasizes his belief that economic protection and national consolidation were necessary stages in the maturation of nations toward global exchange.
One of the notable achievements of Hirst’s biography is the way it illustrates the ideological tensions between List and the classical economists, particularly Adam Smith and Jean-Baptiste Say. While she never descends into polemic, Hirst underscores the practical orientation of List’s thought, portraying him not as an abstract theorist but as a politically engaged economist whose work emerged from and responded to concrete historical exigencies—above all, the German Zollverein and the challenge of national industrial development. In this sense, List is cast as a transitional figure, straddling liberalism and the emerging discipline of political economy oriented toward state-building and developmentalism.
Hirst also explores List’s personal struggles, including his imprisonment in Germany, his financial difficulties, and his eventual suicide. These are treated with appropriate gravity, though she avoids speculative psychoanalysis. Instead, Hirst integrates these biographical elements into a broader argument about the precarity and moral burden of intellectual dissenters in politically repressive contexts. Her account of List’s time in the United States—where he studied American infrastructure and advocated for railway expansion—serves as a central chapter in her thesis that List was a visionary whose comparative perspective on national development anticipated later economic theories of industrialization.
While the biography occasionally reflects the limitations of its time—particularly in its treatment of non-European economic systems and its implicit valorization of industrial modernity—Hirst’s study is notable for its methodological rigor and clarity. She avoids hagiography, and her prose, though occasionally antiquated, is lucid and well-organized.
The Life of Friedrich List is an indispensable resource for scholars interested in the intellectual history of economic nationalism, the development of 19th-century German political thought, and the historical foundations of modern developmental economics. Margaret Hirst’s biography remains the most detailed English-language account of List’s life and thought, and it deserves renewed attention in light of contemporary debates over globalization, state intervention, and national sovereignty.
GPT
Hirst’s scholarship is both archival and analytical. Drawing on correspondence, political pamphlets, and List’s published works—including Outlines of American Political Economy (1827) and Das nationale System der politischen Ökonomie (1841)—she weaves together personal and intellectual development, contextualizing List’s evolving thought within the political fragmentation of post-Napoleonic Germany and the industrial dynamism of the United States. Her portrait of List as both a nationalist and an international thinker is particularly nuanced; she emphasizes his belief that economic protection and national consolidation were necessary stages in the maturation of nations toward global exchange.
One of the notable achievements of Hirst’s biography is the way it illustrates the ideological tensions between List and the classical economists, particularly Adam Smith and Jean-Baptiste Say. While she never descends into polemic, Hirst underscores the practical orientation of List’s thought, portraying him not as an abstract theorist but as a politically engaged economist whose work emerged from and responded to concrete historical exigencies—above all, the German Zollverein and the challenge of national industrial development. In this sense, List is cast as a transitional figure, straddling liberalism and the emerging discipline of political economy oriented toward state-building and developmentalism.
Hirst also explores List’s personal struggles, including his imprisonment in Germany, his financial difficulties, and his eventual suicide. These are treated with appropriate gravity, though she avoids speculative psychoanalysis. Instead, Hirst integrates these biographical elements into a broader argument about the precarity and moral burden of intellectual dissenters in politically repressive contexts. Her account of List’s time in the United States—where he studied American infrastructure and advocated for railway expansion—serves as a central chapter in her thesis that List was a visionary whose comparative perspective on national development anticipated later economic theories of industrialization.
While the biography occasionally reflects the limitations of its time—particularly in its treatment of non-European economic systems and its implicit valorization of industrial modernity—Hirst’s study is notable for its methodological rigor and clarity. She avoids hagiography, and her prose, though occasionally antiquated, is lucid and well-organized.
The Life of Friedrich List is an indispensable resource for scholars interested in the intellectual history of economic nationalism, the development of 19th-century German political thought, and the historical foundations of modern developmental economics. Margaret Hirst’s biography remains the most detailed English-language account of List’s life and thought, and it deserves renewed attention in light of contemporary debates over globalization, state intervention, and national sovereignty.
GPT
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