Wilhelm Roscher
1817-1894 writes Grundniss zu Vorlesungen uber die Staatswirtschaftnach Geschichtlicher Methode 1843 thereby founds 'Historismus', for 40 years the most influential school of economic thought in Germany. Reaction to classicism. Little effect in England, less in France. Historismus is based in part on the ideas of the Romantics and, whilst never anti-capitalist, espouses socialist criticisms. It sponsored the German social reform movement (the 'Kathedersozialismus'). Main feature is its method of economic inquiry, which pays special attention to history in the study of economic progress.

Bruno Hilderbrand
1812-1878. In Die Nationalokonomie der Gegenwart und Zukunft 1848, he opposes the classical argument that says it has found the natural laws of economics. Hilderbrand says that historical economic systems and statistics and other branches of history must be studied and changes focused upon in order to derive theoretical analysis.

Karl Knies
1821-1898. Authors Die Politische Oekonomie vom Standpunkte der Geschichlichen Methode, 1853, and Geld und Kredit, (year of publication unkown). Knies was a determined opponent of classicism, and also opposed Roscher and Hilderbrand for the weakness of their opposition to classicism. He says that historical study is the only valid form of economics. One cannot identify laws in economics as one can in other sciences, but one can identify regularities in social development and suggest analogies. He proposes that the classical assumption of man being motivated by self interest alone is false, and that there are many other motives for his behaviour.

Gustav Schmoller
Grundriss der Volfswirtschaftlehrer1904 admits economic life has its laws but doubts the classical theorists' ability to find them.

Cairnes
English historical school. Character and Logical Method of Political Economy 1857, repeats ideas of the Historical school

Cliffe Leslie
English Historical school. Essays on Political and Moral Philosophy, 1879, relating ideas of the Historical school.

Richard Jones
In an essay on the Distribution of Wealth and the Sources of Taxation. Part 1: Rent 1831, Jones says that the origin of rent is that land yields to even the most basic labour a revenue greater than that needed to support the labourer. Thus the owner of land can and does demand a tribute. Rent is paid irrespective of the quality of the land, hence Jones believes in 'absolute' rent since even the worst land yields rent. He dismisses Ricardo's reliance on diminishing returns to explain increases in rent. He says that the following factors also explain increases in rent: technology increase; diminishing share of labour in production (hence increased share of land-owner) in produce of land; and accumulation of larger quantities of capital in cultivation.

Jones' great achievement is stress on social origins of rent that underlay Ricardo's theory of rent rather than Ricardo's mistaken belief in deterioration of the quality of land. Rent is a surplus profit that arises from private ownership of a scarce gift of nature. In An Introductory Lecture on Political Economy, 1833, he defines economic structure as a relationship between different classes that may have been established far back in history due to social conventions of that earlier age. Jones also authored the Text-book of Lectures on the Political Economy of Nations 1852.

Jones praises Smith for making a bold advance in establishing a law of production with universal applicability, but argues that Smith's distribution theory is confused. The Physiocrats are condemned for their agricultural bias, and Ricardo is attacked for building an illegitimate superstructure on the foundations of Malthus and Smith. Malthus' theory that rent on superior land is determined by the cost of produce from the worst quality of productive land is accepted by Jones, but Ricardo is regarded as applying this theory universally despite the fact that rent arises out of historical circumstances. Malthusian population theory is seen as overlooking possible changes in the factors under scrutiny, and as making predictions that are not necessarily justified. Historical evidence shows that agriculturally successful countries have the highest rents, and that the birth rate falls where wealth increases. Economic laws were in danger of becoming irrelevant and people would hence lose faith in them. Therefore laws should be based on experience and on historical research of different groups living under different circumstances. His plea is not just for empirical research, but for a particular type of empirical research.