Friedrich List
Georg Friedrich List (6 August 1789 – 30 November 1846) was a German-American economist and political theorist who developed the nationalist theory of political economy in both Europe and the United States.[1][2][3][4] He was a forefather of the German historical school of economics and argued for the Zollverein (a pan-German customs union) from a nationalist standpoint.[5] He advocated raising tariffs on imported goods while supporting free trade of domestic goods and stated the cost of a tariff should be seen as an investment in a nation's future productivity.[4]
Friedrich List
List was a political liberal[6] who collaborated with Karl von Rotteck and Carl Theodor Welcker on the Rotteck-Welckersches Staatslexikon, an encyclopedia of political science that advocated constitutional liberalism and which influenced the Vormärz.[7] At the time in Europe, liberal and nationalist ideas were almost inseparably linked, and political liberalism was not yet attached to what was later considered "economic liberalism."[6][8] Emmanuel Todd considers List a forerunner to John Maynard Keynes as a theorist of "moderate or regulated capitalism."[9]
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
List was born in the free imperial city of Reutlingen in the Duchy of Württemberg on August 6, 1789.[10] His father, Johannes, was a prosperous master tanner and a city official, and Georg Friedrich was the second son and youngest child in his family.[11] He was educated at the town's Latin School. In an apprenticeship at his father's tanning business, List showed little interest in manual labor. He was apprenticed as a bureaucratic clerk at Blaubeuren.[11] After passing his examination, he became Taxes and Warehouses Commissioner in Schelklingen.[11]
University of Tübingen[edit]
At age 23, List was promoted to a post at Tübingen. While there, he regularly attended lectures at the University of Tübingen and expanded his reading. He also made the acquaintance of the future minister Johannes von Schlayer.[11] In 1816, List's position in the bureaucracy was improved as the succession of King William I of Württemberg ushered in a period of reform. Under minister Karl August von Wangenheim, List rose quickly through the bureaucracy and was made the first Professor of Administration and Politics at the University. List had been an advocate for establishing such a position, arguing in 1817: