Carey, Henry Charles

Carey, Henry Charles, 1793–1879, American economist, b. Philadelphia; son of Mathew Carey. In 1835 he retired from publishing, where he had done notable work, to devote himself to economics. His Principles of Political Economy (3 vol., 1837–40) and Principles of Social Science (3 vol., 1858–59) were among the first important American works in the field. Carey opposed the dominant British political economy of the day, particularly the "pessimism" of Ricardo and Malthus, and led in the theoretical development of American economic nationalism. He advocated the protective tariff but believed generally in laissez-faire.

---

Carey, Henry Charles 

Born Dec. 15, 1793, in Philadelphia; died there Oct. 13, 1879. American economist, a representative of vulgar political economy.

Carey was a book publisher from 1814, retiring from the trade in 1835 to devote himself to theoretical and publicistic activity. He defended the interests of the American bourgeoisie and vigorously advocated industrial and agrarian protectionism as a means to fight British competition. Carey believed that political economy should study not the laws of social development but man’s relation with nature. He criticized English classical political economy, especially D. Ricardo, and rejected the labor theory of value. Carey was the founder of the reactionary theory of “harmony of class interests.” K. Marx and F. Engels revealed the lack of scientific substance of Carey’s theoretical views and showed their reactionary intent. N. G. Chernyshevskii presented a comprehensive critique of Carey’s ideas.

Carey’s views enjoyed a certain popularity in the 19th century. Present-day bourgeois political economists are reviving the theory of class harmony, using it in apologetics for the intensified exploitation of the working people by the capitalists.

WORKS

Principles of Political Economy, vols. 1–3. Philadelphia, 1837–40.
The Past, the Present and the Future. Philadelphia, 1848.
The Harmony of Interests, Agricultural, Manufacturing and Commercial. Philadelphia, 1851.
The Slave Trade, Domestic and Foreign: Why It Exists, and How It May Be Extinguished. Philadelphia, 1853.
The Principles of Social Science, vols. 1–3. Philadelphia, 1858–60.
In Russian translation:
Politiko-ekonomicheskie pis’ma k prezidentu Amerikanskikh Soedinennykh Shtatov. Moscow, 1860.
Rukovodstvo k sotsial’noi nauke Keri. St. Petersburg, 1869.

REFERENCES

Marx, K., and F. Engels. Pis’ma o “Kapitale.” Moscow, 1968. Pages 72–74, 87–90, 298–305.
Marx, K. “Teorii pribavochnoi stoimosti (vol. 4 of Das Kapital). K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 26, part 1, pp. 159, 425; part 2, pp. 26, 168, 179, 341, 655; part 3, pp. 186, 263.
Chernyshevskii, N. G. Izbr. ekonomicheskie proizvedeniia, vol. 2. Moscow, 1948. Pages 327, 531–51.

V. G. SARYCHEV