126 (2) 2006

Schmoller's Impact on the Anglophone Literature in Economics

Geoffrey M. Hodgson

This essay examines the impact of the work of Gustav Schmoller in the economics literature in Britain and America. It shows that Schmoller's reputation was not significantly eroded as a result of the Methodenstreit. In particular, Alfred Marshall retained a high opinion of Schmoller's contribution and aligned himself with Schmoller's mature methodological position. However, references to Schmoller's work began to decline after the publication of the two volumes of the Grundriss in 1900 and 1904. Nevertheless, a direct theoretical assault on Schmoller's contribution did not appear in the Anglophone journals of economics until the 1930s when Friedrich Hayek and Lionel Robbins wrongly caricatured Schmoller as an opponent of all theory and an advocate of atheoretical description.

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