Oscar Douglas Skelton was a Canadian political economist and civil servant. Skelton was a loyal member of the Liberal Party, an expert on international affairs, and a nationalist who encouraged Canadians to pursue autonomy from the British Empire, and to take on what he proclaimed was "the work of the world."

Adam Shortt (1859–1931) was an economic historian in Ontario. He was the first full-time employed academic in the field at a Canadian university.