Friedrich List

German-American economist who developed the 'infant industry' argument for protectionism — the intellectual foundation of developmental nationalism in economics.

The infant industry case: List's National System of Political Economy (1841) argued against Smith's free trade doctrine from the perspective of late-developing nations — a free trade regime that benefits established industrial powers (Britain) will prevent later nations from industrializing at all. Protecting infant industries temporarily allows them to develop productivity until they can compete. List's framework is the theoretical foundation for every major East Asian industrial policy from Meiji Japan to post-WWII Korea and Taiwan. Studwell and Ha-Joon Chang explicitly revive List's argument.