Histories of economic thought have generally focused on the development of economic theory, notably value and distribution. The activity of applying economic theory to the understanding of particular situations and the solution of specific problems, though a part of the work of economists for several generations, has received relatively little attention from historians of economics. Toward a History of Applied Economics explores such themes as changes in the historical conception of applied economics and its relationship to the core of economic theory, the emergence and decline of applied fields, and issues of applying general theoretical tools and concepts to real-world problems.