In the first comprehensive and full-length study of the English
historical economists, Gerard Koot traces their revolt against the
theory, policy recommendations and academic dominance of classical and
neoclassical economics in Britain between 1870 and 1926. English
Historical Economics, 1870-1926 shows how these historical critics
challenged the deductive method and mechanistic assumptions of the
economic orthodoxy, developing an historical and inductive method for
economic studies and laying the foundation for the professional study of
economic history. The author examines the effect of this new methodology
upon English politics, discussing the intellectual framework that the
historical economists provided for the conservative attack on
laissez-faire philosophy in links between such larger social, economic,
political and intellectual controversies and the origin and growth of
English historical economics.