This paper identifies the similarities and differences among Latin American structuralism, dependency theory, and Thorstein Veblen's Imperial Germany (1915), exploring the connection on such as aspects as path dependency, technology, and economic policy. Imperial Germany is similar to many of the principal policy recommendations espoused by the structuralists and dependency theorists. Nevertheless, structuralism is closer to the ideas of the institutionalists and Veblen himself. In conclusions, the structuralists and Veblen's version in Imperial Germany agree that an industrial policy ought to be guided by the government, even though Veblen and the institutionalists clearly see social change through technological improvement, which is missing from structuralism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]