Abstract
The term ‘national system of political economy’ stems from a filiation of American and German ideas that arose in opposition to the universalist character of classical economics and were designed to promote public policies serving the economic development of the nation. The development was visualized as one that would yield a balance of agriculture and industry and make the most of a country’s potential economic strength. The term ‘American system’ occurs as early as 1787 in No. 11 of The Federalist, where Alexander Hamilton launches this appeal to his readers: ‘Let the thirteen states, bound together in a strict and indissoluble Union, concur in erecting one great American system, superior to the control of all transatlantic force or influence and able to dictate the terms of the connection between the old and the new world.’
This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, 1st edition, 1987. Edited by John Eatwell, Murray Milgate and Peter Newman
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Bibliography
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Spiegel, H.W. (1987). National System. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_725-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_725-1
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National System- Published:
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_725-2
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National System- Published:
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_725-1