This paper discusses the neoclassical and the Marxist traditions in economics and the current treatment of capitalist development in history textbooks. Beginning with an overview of the classical economists, Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo, the two traditions in economics are then discussed in terms of: (1) scope and focus of analysis; (2) purpose and usefulness; (3) assumptions about society and social change; (4) assumptions about human motives and behavior; (5) unit of analysis and analytic procedures; (6) the nature of capitalism; (7) capitalist performance; (8) treatment of economic history and noncapitalist societies; and (9) insights useful in the school curriculum. To determine whether textbooks explain capitalist development in terms of science and technology, a U.S. history textbook, "Triumph of the American Nation" (1986) and a world history textbook, "The Human Experience: A World History" (1985) are analyzed. A discussion of capitalist development is virtually absent in both books which accounts for the lack of a connection between technological development and capitalist development in the history curriculum. To ensure that capitalist development is linked to technological development and that the Marxist perspective is included in the study of economics, these suggestions are made: (1) rewriting history textbooks; (2) using labor market history textbooks to supplement current history textbooks; (3) recognizing the limitations of neoclassical economics; and (4) reading how Marxist historians treat the capitalist era. (DJC)