Harry Johnson: A Life in Economics

Description

Harry Johnson (1923-1977) was such a striking figure in economics that Nobel Laureate James Tobin designated the third quarter of the twentieth century as 'the age of Johnson'. Johnson played a leading role in the development and extension of the Heckscher-Ohlin model of international trade. Within monetary economics he was also a seminal figure who identified and explained the links between the ideas of the major post-war innovators. His discussion of the issues that would benefit from further work set the profession's agenda for a generation. This book chronicles his intellectual development and his contributions to economics, economic education and the discussion of economic policy.

'This is a fascinating account of a larger-than-life figure, with seemingly boundless energy, who not only helped shape international economics in the 1950s and 1960s but also became a missionary for Chicago-style economics in Britain and elsewhere.' Roger E. Backhouse, University of Birmingham 'For 25 years Harry Johnson bestrode the international economics profession 'like a Colossus'. His influence was enormous. This book gives a thorough and very comprehensible account of his hectic life and work. A bonus is its inside picture of two famous institutions: the London School of Economics and the Milton Friedman dominated economics department of the University of Chicago.' Max Corden, Johns Hopkins University 'This fascinating book is a timely reminder of just how important Harry Johnson's work was for the development of late 20th century economics, not just as a body of knowledge, but also and crucially as a single discipline with a global reach. Don Moggridge has a deep understanding of the social and professional environment that helped shape Johnson's attractive but complicated personality and he tells the ultimately tragic story of his life and work with unobtrusive skill.' David Laidler, University of Western Ontario 'Don Moggridge's exceptional biography brings Harry Johnson alive for those of us who knew him only through his writings and public lectures. With his career spanning the decades of the development of economics as a science in the postwar period, Johnson's intellectual journey is equally a story of the creation of modern economics, both scientifically and institutionally. From his youth in Canada, to his time in Cambridge and Manchester, to his Chicago and LSE days, Johnson left a rich record of documents, memoirs, and personal connections. Moggridge has woven that material into a compelling narrative, a worthy successor to his acclaimed biography of Keynes. For economists, and historians of economics, and indeed for historians of postwar social science more generally, this is a must read.' E. Roy Weintraub, Duke University 'Don Moggridge has done historians of economics a great service in chronicling the life of Harry G. Johnson ... [he] shows that [Johnson] was a fascinating man and, for a time, a dynamo in the world of academic economics.' Journal of the History of Economic Thought 'Harry Johnson's saga has been beautifully encapsulated by Mogridge in this captivating biography.' Economic and Political Weekly