Abstract
The intellectual roots and theory of national economic planning as we know it in the United States today can be traced back to Institutionalist Economics The first part of this paper traces the intellectual geneology of Institutionalism from its first statement by Thorstein Veblen through subsequent formulations by disciples such as John M Clark, Wesley Mitchell, and Clarence Ayres The paper also explicates the theoretical framework of Institutionalist Economics The Institutionalists held that all economic development could be viewed in terms of the evolution of technology and insti tutions This led them to emphasize the role of management and organization in economic behavior and consequently the importance of planning at the level of the firm, the industry, and the economy as a whole The final sections of the paper explore their thoughts about implemen tation in economic planning, and the paper concludes with some implications for the current debate on "industrial policy"
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