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It is interesting that the decline of Original Institutional Economics 
seems to have been paralled by a similar contemporaneous decline in the 
philosophical school from which it partially originated, American 
Pragmatism. The pragmatism of James and Dewey, and to a lesser extent C. S. 
Peirce, dominated American universities in the early decades of the 20th 
century, not just in philosophy but in physics and psychology and probably 
other disciplines. Menand's book, the "Metaphysical Club" tells the story 
of the rise, fall, and reappearance of pragmatism. And so does Wade Hands's 
recent book. So in considering Institutionalism we may be dealing with a 
broader intellectual landscape and trend than just economics. 
 
Pragmatism, and then instrumentalism, were still dominant ideas at Harvard 
in the 1930s. Aspects of pragmatism were actively suppressed to some degree 
in the middle of the 20th century. Peirce's papers were mishandled by 
Harvard in creating his "Collected Papers" and the most sensitive materials 
were withheld from scholars until the 1990s. Perhaps if Samuelson had read 
and thought about Peirce as much as E. B. Wilson did in the 1930s, 
economics might have been much different the past few decades. 
 
Lastly, if my memory serves me correctly, the last chapter of the Menand 
book also considers why pragmatism seemed to fall out of favor in American 
universities after World War II. 
 
Jim Wible 
University of New Hampshire 
 
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