The Contribution of Professor John R. Commons to American Economics^☆

In order to get a better perspective of the work of Professor Commons, I invite you to consider the condition of American economics around the year 1880. At that time American economics had been represented chiefly by sycophants and slavish followers of the English classical school, or rather by the popularizers, perhaps one might say, of the great masters. There were, to be sure, some outstanding exceptions to this more general rule. The academic economists in particular showed little or no interest in the rich concrete material which American economic life unfolded, the changing conditions, the dynamic character of the rapidly growing society, and the movements and struggles incident to the exploitation of rich natural resources.