ABSTRACT
Once they returned home, German-trained American political economists who were filled with the ideas of the German Historical School of Economics (GHSE) wanted to reform the discipline of economics in the US so that their own universities could attain the prestigious status enjoyed by their counterparts in Germany. Their efforts led to the establishment of dedicated political economy departments at universities and colleges across the country. This chapter discusses a number of the details and features of these newly established economics departments, including some of the classes being offered, the adoption of the seminary method, the development of how statistics was taught, the provision of adequate university library resources, and the creation of PhD programs, all of which were accepted as indispensable for higher learning by adherents of the New School. Many of these features, which were originally adopted by emulating the political economy departments headed by the GHSE, have endured and continue to prevail at the economic departments of US institutions of higher learning, as well as those of many other countries around the world.
