Henry Charles Carey

Having foregone college to get an early start in his father's publishing business, he became a partner by age 24. He educated himself by reading manuscripts, and sold the company at age 42 to devote his energies to writing about economics. He published seminal works, Principles of Political Economy (3 vol., 1837–40) and Principles of Social Science (3 vol., 1858–59) espousing laissez-faire views, though in Harmony of Interests: Manufacturing and Commercial (1851) he advocated protectionism. He was also responsible for the development of American economic nationalism.