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Retrospectives: Eugenics and Economics in the Progressive Era

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  • Thomas C. Leonard

Abstract

During the Progressive Era, eugenic approaches to social and economic reform were popular, respectable and widespread. This essay documents the influence of eugenic ideas upon American economic reform, especially in the areas of immigration and labor reform, and tries to illuminate something of its causes and consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas C. Leonard, 2005. "Retrospectives: Eugenics and Economics in the Progressive Era," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 207-224, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:19:y:2005:i:4:p:207-224
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/089533005775196642
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    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/089533005775196642
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sidney Webb, 1912. "The Economic Theory of a Legal Minimum Wage," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(10), pages 973-973.
    2. Edward Alsworth Ross, 1903. "Recent Tendencies in Sociology. III," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 17(3), pages 438-455.
    3. Claudia Goldin, 1994. "The Political Economy of Immigration Restriction in the United States, 1890 to 1921," NBER Chapters, in: The Regulated Economy: A Historical Approach to Political Economy, pages 223-258, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Thomas C. Leonard, 2000. "The Very Idea of Applying Economics: The Modern Minimum-Wage Controversy and Its Antecedents," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 32(5), pages 117-144, Supplemen.
    5. Thomas C. Leonard, 2005. "Protecting Family and Race," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 757-791, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Price V. Fishback & Andrew J. Seltzer, 2021. "The Rise of American Minimum Wages, 1912–1968," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 73-96, Winter.
    2. Terenzio Maccabelli, 2008. "Social Anthropology in Economic Literature at the End of the 19th Century: Eugenic and Racial Explanations of Inequality," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(3), pages 481-527, July.
    3. Nick Cowen, 2018. "Mill’s radical end of laissez-faire: A review essay of the political economy of progress: John Stuart Mill and modern radicalism," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 373-386, September.
    4. Gradstein, Mark & Justman, Moshe, 2019. "Cultural interaction and economic development: An overview," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 243-251.
    5. Carlana, Michela & Tabellini, Marco, 2018. "Happily Ever After: Immigration, Natives' Marriage, and Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 11467, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Price, Gregory N. & Darity Jr., William A., 2010. "The economics of race and eugenic sterilization in North Carolina: 1958-1968," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 261-272, July.
    7. Andrew Farrant, 2008. "The “Vanity of the Philosopher”: Analytical Egalitarianism, Associationist Psychology, and Eugenic Remaking?," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(3), pages 415-428, July.
    8. Ramon P. DeGennaro & Daniel J. Smith, 2023. "Harold A. Black academic conference: an introduction to the special issue," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 197(3), pages 317-324, December.
    9. Leonard, Thomas C., 2009. "Origins of the myth of social Darwinism: The ambiguous legacy of Richard Hofstadter's Social Darwinism in American Thought," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 37-51, July.

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