ABSTRACT
Georg Friedrich List provided the economic rationale for infant industry protection and export subsidies. In doing so, he also offered a convincing story about how international trade, accumulation, and uneven development were related to the twin issues of technical change and technological learning. This chapter pulls together those aspects of List’s analysis that relate to the American system of political economy, as he would have experienced it after settling in the United States in 1825, and as it unfolded in the two centuries that followed. It considers the cosmopolitan ideal in enlightenment thought and contrasts this ideal with political economy. The chapter also considers the importance of intellectual capital and technological learning in Adam Smith and Friedrich List. Changes in the techno-economic paradigm and new technology systems are then described from the origin of the American system of innovation to the present day.
