ABSTRACT
It is curious to note the difference between our own and foreign estimates as to our intellectual achievements. Thus histories of political science written by Europeans pay scant attention to any of our political theorists. But hardly any history of economic thought fails to mention a relatively large number of American economists. We, however, have devoted a large literature to the history of American political thought but on the whole relatively little to the history of American economic thought. I shall not pursue any inquiry as to the cause of this disparity except to comment on one suggestion, namely, that while European economic conditions are very much like our own, their political situation is quite different. I do not think that we can accept this explanation as adequate in view of the close connection between economics and politics. For the great fact about American political life—the absence of feudal class distinctions—is also the dominant note of our economic life.
