born Aug. 6, 1789, Reutlingen, Württemberg, Ger.
died Nov. 30, 1846, Kufstein, Austria
German-born U.S. economist.
He first gained prominence as the founder of an association of German industrialists that favoured abolishing tariff barriers between the German states. Exiled in 1825 for his liberal views, he went to the U.S. In his Outlines of American Political Economy (1827) he maintained that a national economy in an early stage of industrialization required tariff protection to stimulate development. After becoming a U.S. citizen, he returned to Germany as U.S. consul at Baden (1831–34) and Leipzig (1834–37). His best-known work was The National System of Political Economy (1841). Financial and other difficulties eventually drove him to suicide.