UNE Business School lecturer Dr Mathew Frith has won two international awards for his pioneering work on 19th century American economic thought, cementing UNE’s growing reputation in the history of economic thought.
Dr Frith received the 2025 AISPE Terenzio Maccabelli Prize from the Italian Association for the History of Political Economy for his doctoral dissertation, American Protectionist Thought: The Economic Philosophy and Theory of the 19th Century American Protectionists. He also won the 2025 HES Best Conference Paper by a Young Scholar Award for his paper Van Buren Denslow and the Migratory Theory of Profit, presented at the History of Economics Society Conference in Richmond, Virginia.
“It is rewarding to have independent validation of the quality of my research,” Dr Frith said. “My examination committee placed my PhD dissertation in the top 5 percent they have examined, then HETSA recognised it nationally, and now AISPE has awarded it internationally. Given Italy’s strong programs in economic history and the history of economic thought, the competition would be fierce, which adds further credibility to the research.”
My examination committee placed my PhD dissertation in the top 5 percent they have examined.
The AISPE committee praised the dissertation for demonstrating “the significance of studying the American Protectionists for both the understanding of U.S. economic history and the history of economic thought,” noting how it “collects, reconstructs, and synthesizes the ideas of dispersed thinkers into a larger corpus to highlight their central role in American economic thought.”
Image: Dr Frith’s research challenges common misconceptions about protectionism.
Dr Frith’s research challenges common misconceptions about protectionism by reconstructing the ideas of about seventy thinkers who developed a sophisticated framework that extended beyond trade policy. “The American Protectionists emphasised human ingenuity, invention, and the diversity of talents,” he said. “They rejected the zero-sum thinking of the mercantilists. They instead supported protective tariffs as a means to create conditions for entrepreneurs to exercise their ingenuity and to cultivate new industrial pursuits. They thus saw wealth creation as (a) positive sum-game. Moreover, outside tariffs and infrastructure, they were highly market oriented and sought to reduce regulatory barriers and domestic taxation.”
The American Protectionists emphasised human ingenuity, invention, and the diversity of talents.
The HES award recognises his reassessment of the neglected economist Van Buren Denslow. The committee commended the paper for how it “meticulously reconstructs [Denslow’s] distinctive economic ideas from scattered primary sources” and described it as “clearly organized and conceptually rigorous,” filling an important gap and opening new research avenues.
“Receiving the HES Best Conference Paper by a Young Scholar Award is particularly meaningful,” Dr Frith said. “It confirms my view that Denslow, a figure who has been largely forgotten, deserves greater recognition for his contributions, particularly for what I have termed his migratory theory of profit.”
Denslow, a figure who has been largely forgotten, deserves greater recognition for his contributions.
Explaining that theory in plain terms, Dr Frith said, “Falling profits in mature industries act as signals that prompt entrepreneurs to discover new pursuits. Profit rates ‘migrate’ toward new opportunities. This process helps explain capitalism’s capacity for continual renewal.”
Dr Frith’s Denslow article is currently under revise and resubmit at History of Political Economy. “The fast-track option to the Journal of the History of Economic Thought is a great opportunity, but given the advanced stage of review at HOPE, I will continue revising for that journal,” he said.
His scholarship will soon reach a wider audience. In 2026, Anthem Press will publish his book, America’s Neglected Protectionist Tradition: The Economics that Forged a Nation. “The thesis has achieved its purpose of drawing attention to this neglected school,” he said. “The book offers the first comprehensive account of the tradition that followed Alexander Hamilton and systematised his ideas into a coherent doctrine.”
In the classroom, Dr Frith is careful to broaden perspectives. “I indicate to my IPE students that economic traditions are rarely monolithic and often possess a wide internal diversity of thought,” he said. “Most textbooks treat economic nationalism as a caricature. It is important that students look beyond superficial generalisations and explore the rich diversity of economic ideas.”
Most textbooks treat economic nationalism as a caricature.
For HDR candidates, his advice is pragmatic. “Start writing as early as possible,” he said. “Even if early drafts do not make the final thesis, the practice will sharpen your thinking and your writing.”
An earlier UNE feature on Dr Frith’s work on Van Buren Denslow is available on the UNE News website.
