Karl Gustav Adolf Knies (29 March 18213 August 1898) was a German

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

of the

historical school of economics The historical school of economics was an approach to academic economics and to public administration that emerged in the 19th century in Germany, and held sway there until well into the 20th century. The professors involved compiled massive eco ...

, best known as the author of ''Political Economy from the Standpoint of the

Historical Method Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be draw ...

'' (1853). Knies taught at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

for over 30 years, and was perhaps the most theoretically oriented economist of the older historical school.Karl Knies
at

The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics ''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics'' (2018), 3rd ed., is a twenty-volume reference work on economics published by Palgrave Macmillan. It contains around 3,000 entries, including many classic essays from the original Inglis Palgrave Dictio ...

Like others in the German historical school, Knies disliked the attitudes of the "classical school" (

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——� ...

David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist. He was one of the most influential of the classical economists along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith and James Mill. Ricardo was also a politician, and a ...

, and their followers), particularly their belief that the pursuit of individual self-interest redounded to the good of the community. In his ''Political Economy'', p. 157, he comments that self-interest is "in the public interest, so to speak, in its weakness, and dangerous in its strength" (gemeinnützig, so zu sagen, in seine Schwäche und gefährlich in seine Stärke). Knies is very important to early American economic thought, as some of its founders studied under him, e.g.,

John Bates Clark John Bates Clark (January 26, 1847 – March 21, 1938) was an American neoclassical economist. He was one of the pioneers of the marginalist revolution and opponent to the Institutionalist school of economics, and spent most of his career as ...

attended from 1872 to 1875 the University of Zurich and the University of Heidelberg where he studied under him; Clark supervised the thesis of

Frank Knight Frank Hyneman Knight (November 7, 1885 – April 15, 1972) was an American economist who spent most of his career at the University of Chicago, where he became one of the founders of the Chicago School. Nobel laureates Milton Friedman, George ...

, who in turn influenced

Paul Samuelson Paul Anthony Samuelson (May 15, 1915 – December 13, 2009) was an American economist who was the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. When awarding the prize in 1970, the Swedish Royal Academies stated that he " ...

, who was the first to win the

John Bates Clark Medal The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to "that American economist under the age of forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge." The award is named after the ...

for the best American economist under age forty.

Richard T. Ely Richard Theodore Ely (April 13, 1854 – October 4, 1943) was an American economist, author, and leader of the Progressive movement who called for more government intervention to reform what they perceived as the injustices of capitalism, especial ...

studied under Knies and received his Ph.D. in 1879 in Heidelberg.

Publications

* ''Statistics'' (1850) * ''Political Economy from the Standpoint of the Historical Method'', (1st ed., 1853, Braunschweig; 2nd ed., 1883) * ''Money and Credit'' (1873–6, 2nd ed., 1885)

References

* Braeuer, Walter, „Knies, Karl“, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 12 (1979), pp. 182
online copy
*

External links

* 1821 births 1898 deaths German economists Historical school economists {{Germany-economist-stub