Introduction

The Institutional school of political economy began with the work of Thorstein Veblen. The fact that every few years the American Economic Association or one of its stalwart members feels compelled to pronounce this school officially dead testifies to the continuity and persistence of this hearty band of heretics. After Veblen, the Institutionalists' contribution can be divided into three periods: pre-1945, post-1945, and the late 1960s to date. In the pre-1945 period Institutional analysis and activism was continued by economists such as John R. Commons, Wesley C. Mitchell, Walton Hamilton, J. M. Clark, Gardiner Means, Rexford Tugwell, and many others. The contributions of these economists are discussed in detail in Allan Gruchy's book Modern Economic Thought: The American Contribution. The post-1945 period is represented by the works of economists such as C. E. Ayres, J. K. Galbraith, and Gunnar Myrdal. Their contributions are discussed in another of Allan Gruchy's books, Contemporary Economic Thought. The third period, from the late 1960s to the present, coincides with the organization of the Association for Evolutionary Economics and its Journal of Economic Issues. This organization was greatly influenced by C. E. Ayres, who reemphasized the theoretical component of Institutional economics.