Daniel Raymond

Daniel Raymond (1786–1849) was the first important political economist to appear in the United States. He authored Thoughts on Political Economy (1820) and The Elements of Political Economy (1823).

Economic theory

He theorized that "labor creates wealth," which may have been an improvement based on the thinking of Adam Smith of Europe. Daniel Raymond thought that the economy of England was actually the economy of the higher-ranking members of that society, and not the economy of the entire nation. He held that wealth is not an aggregation of exchange values, as Adam Smith had conceived it. Daniel Raymond held that wealth is the capacity or opportunity to acquire the necessaries and conveniences of life by labor.

Raymond systematized the infant industry argument.^[1]

Political theory

In 1845, he wrote a book entitle 'The Elements of Constitutional Law' which included basic definitions of a government, a sovereign state, a confederacy and a constitution. While these concepts have evolved, much of the basic theories which he outlined still have relevance in modern political analysis.^[2]

His writings affected the political developments in the United States.^[3]

References

1. ^ Chang, Ha-Joon. "Kicking Away the Ladder: How the Economic and Intellectual Histories of Capitalism Have Been Re-Written to Justify Neo-Liberal Capitalism". Post-Autistic Economics Review. 4 September 2002: Issue 15, Article 3. Retrieved on 8 Octboer 2008.
2. ^ http://books.google.ie/books?id=kf8Hh8yGINsC&printsec=titlepage#PPA23,M1
3. ^ Lee, Maurice S. (2005). Slavery, Philosophy, and American Literature, 1830-1860. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521846530. http://books.google.com/books?id=WhUs1Gx95hAC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=%22Daniel+Raymond%22+abolitionism+%22library+of+congress%22&source=web&ots=6HOlEbZ6xz&sig=S7GYq4NzvELkh94nJmowAvNW7_Q&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA60,M1. 

Persondata
Name	Raymond, Daniel
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Date of birth	1786
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Date of death	1849
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