Thomas C. Leonard

Thomas C. Leonard is a historian of economics and scholarly authority on American economic life during the late 19th and early 20th centuries at Princeton.

He is perhaps best known for his book Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics and American Economics in the Progressive Era. In 2017, the History of Economics Society awarded Illiberal Reformers the Joseph J. Spengler Prize for book of the year.

Selected publications

• Leonard, T. C. (2005). Retrospectives: Eugenics and economics in the progressive era. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(4), 207-224.
• Leonard, T. C. (2016). Illiberal reformers. Princeton University Press.
• Klamer A, Leonard TC (1994) So what’s an economic metaphor? In: Mirowski P (ed) Natural images in economic thought: markets read in tooth and claw, pp 20–51. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge New York
• Leonard, T. C. (2000). The very idea of applying economics: The modern minimum-wage controversy and its antecedents. History of Political Economy, 32(Suppl_1), 117-144.