In “Emerson and Economics” by Alexander Kern, Kern draws attention to the economic aspects found in the texts of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Specifically, Kern discusses the lack of attention that Emerson's economic notions receive. Emerson is not associated with the profession of economic writing, but Kern draws attention to the fact that "he addressed the subject so often that an understanding of his economic ideas is a prerequisite for evaluating the all of his thought on a relative or absolute scale” (Kern 678). ). Kern's theory that readers must extract economics from Emerson in order to understand his texts is extremely useful because it provides insight into the difficult problem of viewing Emerson as an economist. Yet, he considers Emerson a moral philosopher because of the author's views on society. . Alexander Kern's call to consider Emerson as an economist has not yet been answered. Furthermore, it is crucial to evaluate Emerson as an economist in order to analyze his texts differently. Therefore, using economics to evaluate Emerson's “self-reliance” in a new way will show that it is a call for social reform. More specifically, by considering the economic panic of 1837 and its effects on Emerson's view of society, a new way of interpreting "self-sufficiency" is obtained. First, it is important to understand the economic panic of 1837 and then understand how it happened. influenced Emerson. Crucially, American industries depended on British financing to finance cotton, the main export of the time. The crisis emerged when British investment produced a “land boom” (Roberts 363) in the West. When British investors withdrew their funding, economic activity collapsed and American banks failed to keep the economy running. In the middle of the article......, my findings lead it to be of concern to anyone who wants to read "Self Reliance" with a new perspective. Works Cited Kern, Alexander. “Emerson and Economics” New England Quarterly. January 1, 1940. Proquest. Internet. April 25, 2014Major, William and Bryan Sinche. “Give Emerson the thumbs up.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. January 17, 2010. Proquest. Internet. April 27, 2014 Porte, Joel and Saundra Morris. The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Cambridge University Press. 24-27. Google Scholar. Internet. April 26, 2014Roberts, Alasdair. “First American Great Depression: Economic Crisis and Political Disorder after the Panic of 1837.” Political Science Quarterly. June 1, 2013. 363-364. Proquest. Internet. April 25, 2014 Schweikart, Larry. “Brothers in Chains: The Thoughts of Ralph Waldo Emerson and George Fitzhugh on Economic and Political Freedom.” » Sd Proquest. Proquest. Internet. April 27. 2014