Jacob Viner

Jacob Viner (May 3, 1892 - September 12, 1970), a noted economist, was born in Montreal, Canada, and did his undergraduate work at McGill University. He earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University, where he wrote his dissertation under Frank W. Taussig, the international trade economist. He was a professor at the University of Chicago from 1916 to 1917 and from 1919 to 1946. At various times he taught also at Stanford and Yale Universities and went twice to the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Geneva Switzerland. In 1946 he left for Princeton University, where he remained until his retirement in 1960.

He is noted for a wide range of contributions to many areas of economics. He developed the basic model of the firm, devising the long- and short-run cost curves that are still a staple. He also introduced the terms trade creation and trade diversion in 1950.

Viner was a noted opponent of John Maynard Keynes during the Great Depression. While he agreed with the policies of government spending that Keynes pushed for, Viner argued that Keynes's analysis was flawed and would not stand in the long run.

He also made important contributions to the theory of international trade and to the history of economic thought. While he was at Chicago, Viner co-edited the Journal of Political Economy with Frank Knight.

Viner played a role in government, most notably as an advisor to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau during the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration.

At both Chicago and Princeton, Viner had a reputation as being one of the toughest professors, and many students were terrified by the prospect of studying under him. To his friends and family, however, he was known to be wise, witty and kind.

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