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History of Political Economy Annual Supplement to Volume 34 (2002) 148-153



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A Brief History of History of Economic Thought Teaching in the Netherlands

Albert Jolink and Mark Blaug


The history of the history of economic thought teaching in the Netherlands is an unwritten story. It consists of scattered, local, individual stories and of particular events that have remained unnoticed in Dutch histories of higher education. Yet, in retrospect, the individual stories and events build up an impressively consistent picture of a history of history of economic thought teaching in Dutch economics curricula.

The information that has shaped this brief history comes from those who were involved in the teaching of the history of economic thought at Dutch universities during the period 1945–2001. These (oral) histories were gathered by interviewing several generations of lecturers at different universities in the Netherlands. Due to the relatively low mobility of Dutch lecturers during a large part of the period under investigation, most individual stories related to the specific circumstances of one university town and could often be confirmed by predecessors or successors. The sheer size of the country, with at most nine faculties offering (elements of) an economics curriculum, offers the opportunity to distill some general traits that may compose a brief history of the history of economic thought teachings in the Netherlands.

The oral history mainly covers the post–World War II era, although most stories also referred to the pre–World War II period, in part as an explanation, in part as a (self-) justification of the present situation. Although the pre–World War II history of history of economic thought [End Page 148] teaching is mainly a history of hearsay, it seems to be in conformity with the overall picture of the history of economics in the Netherlands. As such, a brief sketch of the pre–World War II period will be presented first.

The Pre–World War II Period

The economics teaching at Dutch universities during the interbellum is characterized by a charming simplicity: a handful of professors would cater to a dozen students, mostly at law faculties. The exceptions, here, were the Rotterdam School of Economics and the Economics Department of Tilburg University, which started in the 1910s and 1920s as business schools but later developed an economics curriculum. The main actors in the 1930s were the economics faculty of the University of Amsterdam and the business school at Rotterdam, who considered each other as direct rivals from the start. Although there were (minor) differences among the approaches at different universities and schools, in general the economics teaching was characterized by (1) an orientation toward the so-called Austrian school of economics, (2) a strong emphasis on applied economics and practical affairs, and (3) a historical approach toward teaching economics.

Most of the economics teaching in the 1930s was inspired by the marginal utility approach represented by the Austrian school of economics, in particular Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk's work. The Dutch economists, inclined as they were toward German economics, had experienced the Methodenstreit from a distance but wholeheartedly adopted the move away from the German historical school. Yet the theoretical amalgam that emerged in economics teaching at Dutch universities combined elements that may have illustrated a Dutch preference for consensus but otherwise seemed incompatible as an outcome of the Methodenstreit. One of the elements of the theory that dominated the economics teaching was the emphasis on the specific conditions of time and place that determined the potential applications in practical affairs. One possible exception was a theory of money. In retrospect, the liberal interpretation of the Austrian school's contributions to economics does not always qualify Dutch economics teaching as “Austrian.” Nowadays one may classify it even as “institutionalist.”

The teaching of economics found its justification in the practices of trade or political applications. Although some philosophical insights may [End Page 149] have sneaked into the curriculum, the expectation of the students was a practical study with direct relevance for their future working environment. As...

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