ABSTRACT
While the economics departments of American universities were internationally renowned for providing competitive and advanced levels of education for most of the 20th century period, this chapter explains that it was Germany that set the standards for scholarly education and publications in political economy for most of the 19th century. A key contributing factor to this international prestige was the German Historical School of Economics (GHSE), which occupied the status of world’s leading school of economic thought. Its professors were renowned for providing a high-quality education in political economy and successfully discrediting many of the principles and methods of orthodox classical economics. This chapter also highlights the fact that many young American students went to Germany in order to obtain an advanced education in political economy. While in Germany, they were exposed to fundamentally novel ideas, approaches, and viewpoints in terms of how a program of higher education in political economy could be organized. When they returned home after completing their studies, they brought their newly acquired knowledge, experiences, and ideas with them, which they used to revolutionize the discipline and profession of economics in the US.
