Gustav von Schmoller | |
|---|---|
 Gustav von Schmoller byNicola Perscheidc. 1908} | |
| Born | (1838-06-24)24 June 1838 |
| Died | 27 June 1917(1917-06-27) (aged 79) |
| Academic background | |
| Influences | Karl Wolfgang Christoph Schüz [de] |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Economics |
| School or tradition | Historical school of economics |
| Notable ideas | Inductive approach to economics |
Gustav Friedrich (after 1908:von)Schmoller (German:[ˈʃmɔlɐ]ⓘ; 24 June 1838 – 27 June 1917) was the leader of the "younger"Germanhistorical school of economics.
He was a leadingSozialpolitiker (more derisively,Kathedersozialist, "Socialist of the Chair"), and a founder and long-time chairman of theVerein für Socialpolitik, the German Economic Association, which continues to exist.[1]
The appellation "Kathedersozialist" was given to Schmoller and other members of the Verein by their enemies. Schmoller disavowed the "socialist" label, instead tracing his thought to the heterodox liberalism represented byJérôme-Adolphe Blanqui,Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi,John Stuart Mill,Johann Heinrich von Thünen,Bruno Hildebrand,Thomas Edward Cliffe Leslie,Lorenz von Stein, andÉmile de Laveleye and radicals such asFrederic Harrison andEdward Spencer Beesly.[2] His goal was to reconcile the Prussian monarchy and bureaucracy "with the idea of the Liberal state and complemented by the best elements of parliamentarianism" to carry out social reform.[2][3]
Schmoller was born inHeilbronn. His father was aWürttemberg civil servant. Young Schmoller studiedKameralwissenschaft [de] (a combination ofeconomics,law,history, and civil administration) at theUniversity of Tübingen (1857–1861). In 1861, he obtained an appointment at theWürttemberg Statistical Department [de].[4] During his academic career, he held appointments as a professor at the universities ofHalle (1864–72),Strasbourg (1872–1882), andBerlin (1882–1913).[5] After 1899, he represented theUniversity of Berlin in thePrussian House of Lords.[citation needed]
Schmoller's influence on academic policy, economic, social and fiscal reform, and economics as an academic discipline for the time between 1875 and 1910[6] can hardly be overstated. He was an outspoken proponent of the assertion ofGerman naval power and the expansion of theGerman colonial empire.[citation needed]
As an outspoken leader of the "younger" historical school, Schmoller opposed what he saw as theaxiomatic-deductive approach ofclassical economics and, later, theAustrian school—indeed, Schmoller coined the term to suggest provincialism in an unfavorable review of the 1883 bookInvestigations into the Method of the Social Sciences with Special Reference to Economics (Untersuchungen über die Methode der Socialwissenschaften und der politischen Oekonomie insbesondere) byCarl Menger, which attacked the methods of the historical school. This led to the controversy known as theMethodenstreit. Schmoller's primarilyinductive approach, requesting careful study, comparative in time and space,[6] of economic performance and phenomena generally, his focus on the evolution of economic processes and institutions, and his insistence on the cultural specificity of economics and the centrality of values in shaping economic exchanges stand in stark contrast to someclassical and mostneoclassical economists, so that he and his school fell out of the mainstream of economics by the 1930s, being replaced in Germany by the successorFreiburg school.[citation needed]
To Schmoller, psychology and ethics were key aspects of political economy.[7] He was a critic of liberal individualism.[7]
However, it is often overlooked that Schmoller's primary preoccupation in his lifetime was not with economicmethod but with economic and socialpolicy to address the challenges posed by rapid industrialization and urbanization. That is, Schmoller was first and foremost a social reformer.[8] As such, Schmoller's influence extended throughout Europe, to theProgressive movement in theUnited States, and to social reformers inMeiji Japan. His most prominent non-German students and followers includedWilliam Ashley,W. E. B. Du Bois,Richard T. Ely,Albion Woodbury Small, andEdwin R. A. Seligman.[citation needed]
Since the 1980s, Schmoller's work has been re-evaluated and found relevant to some branches ofheterodox economics, as well asdevelopment economics,behavioral economics,evolutionary economics, andnew institutional economics. He has long had an influence within the subfield ofeconomic history and the discipline ofsociology.[citation needed]
After 1881, Schmoller was editor of theJahrbuch für Gesetzebung, Verwaltung, und Volkswirthschaft im deutschen Reich. From 1878 to 1903, he edited a series of monographs entitledStaats- und sozialwissenschaftliche Forschungen. He was also an editor and major contributor toActa Borussica, an extensive collection of Prussian historical sources undertaken by theBerlin Academy of Science upon Schmoller's andSybel's instigation.[citation needed]
One of the reasons why Schmoller is not more widely known today is that most of his books and articles were not translated,[1] as during his time Anglo-American economists generally read German, which was the dominant scholarly language of the time. German having fallen out of favor, the untranslated texts are now inaccessible to readers without knowledge of German. Two exceptions are:
Hismagnum opus is
In 1900, Schmoller added a section on "Races and Peoples" to his "Grundriß der Allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre" and in it, on twenty pages of alleged findings on diverse personality traits, described a hierarchical order of "races", which he presented as a basis of economics.[9][7] For this reason, theVerein für Socialpolitik, which awards the Gustav Schmoller Medal for outstanding services to the Association, has suspended the award from June 2021 to May 2026 and decided to discuss the subject of the relevant section of Schmoller's book at upcoming annual meetings during this period.[10][11]
The decision was made by the Verein für Socialpolitik on the basis of an expert opinion by Erik Grimmer-Solem (Wesleyan University, Middletown, USA).[12]
His works, the majority of which deal with economic history and policy, include:
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
