Viner, Jacob

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'''Jacob Viner''' (May 3, 1892 - September 12, 1970), was a [[Canada|Canadian]]-born [[United States|American]] [[economics|economist]], one of the leading figures of the [[Chicago School of economics|Chicago School]] of the inter-war period. He made significant contributions to the [[theory of cost]] and [[production]] and international economics, but it was his work on the history of economic thought and the criticism of [[John Maynard Keynes|Keynes]] that made him famous.
  
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'''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.
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==Life==
  
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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.
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'''Jacob Viner''' was born in Montreal, [[Canada]], to Samuel P. Viner and Rachel Smilovici, of a [[Romania]]n descend. Viner graduated with a B.A. from [[McGill University]] in 1914, where he studied [[economics]] under [[Stephen Leacock]]. He then moved to the [[United States]] and enrolled into graduate studies at the [[Harvard University]]. He earned his M.A. in 1915 and his Ph.D. in 1922, studying under [[Frank W. Taussig]], the international trade economist. Viner's doctoral dissertation, ''Canada's Balance of International Indebtedness'', was written under the supervision of Taussig.  
  
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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.
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Viner married Frances V. Klein of [[West Virginia]] in 1919, with whom he had two children: a son, Arthur, and a daughter, Ellen.  
  
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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.
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Viner was an advisor to the [[United States Tariff Commission]] from 1917 to 1919, and an advisor to the [[Shipping Board]] in 1918.  
  
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Viner played a role in government, most notably as an advisor to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau during the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration.
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Viner served as an instructor at the [[University of Chicago]] from 1916 to 1917, and became an assistant professor of [[economics]] in 1919. In 1923, he was promoted to associate professor, and in 1925 to full professor. He first taught [[public finance]] and international economic policy, but later started teaching [[value]] and [[distribution theory]], international economic theory, and the [[history of economic thought]]. During his time in Chicago, Viner elevated the level of the Economic Department, making it one of the top economic schools in the nation.  
  
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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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At various times he taught also at other universities, among others [[Stanford University|Stanford]] (1937), [[Yale]] (1942-43), and the [[University of California]] (1945). He taught twice at the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, [[Switzerland]] (1930-31 and 1933-34), and the National University of [[Brazil]] (1950).  
  
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Viner served as an American representative to the Economic Committee of the [[League of Nations]] at Geneva in 1933. From 1934 to 1942, he periodically served as special assistant to the United States Secretary of the Treasury, [[Henry Morgenthau, Jr.]]. Through his work, he influenced the economic policies of the [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] administration, especially in the planning of the [[Social Security]] Program. He also served as president of the [[American Economic Association]] in 1939.
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In 1946 Viner left for [[Princeton University]], where he served as the Walker Professor of Economics and International Finance from 1950 to 1960. He taught the theory of international trade and the history of economic thought. He also served as a member of the Editorial Board of the ''University Press'' from 1950 to 1953, and as an elective Trustee of the University Press from 1959 to 1961. He was also a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton from 1946 to 1970.
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Viner retired in 1960 but continued to research and write. From 1961 to 1962 he spent a year at Harvard University as the Taussig Research Professor. He was awarded [[Francis A. Walker Medal]] in 1962, and was elected a distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association in 1965.
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Viner died on September 12, 1970, in Princeton, [[New Jersey]].
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==Work==
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Viner’s early works were preoccupied with the problems of methodology in political economical theory. In them he defended the inductive method. In 1923 he published his Dumping: A problem in international trade, which marked his turn to the trade theory, which he continued to work on throughout his whole career.
 +
 +
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 held that the Great Depression was sustained by deflation in output prices dropping faster than the collapse in costs. He believed that the recovery of economy could be achieved by government-induced inflation, not by monetary expansion but rather by deficit spending. He was much in favor of fiscal policy, in opposition to fixed rules.
 +
 +
Viner criticized Keynes’ analysis of Great Depression over liquidity preference and over, as Viner saw it, oversimplified theory of effective demand. He characterized Keynes’ theory as "short-run" while seeing neoclassical theory better fit crisis-handling in the "long-run". In his book The Long View and the Short, Viner wrote: "No matter how refined and how elaborate the analysis, if it rests solely on the short view it will still be... a structure built on shifting sands."
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In the history of economical thought, Viner was most famous for his work on Adam Smith and his magnum opus, Studies in the Theory of International Trade (1937). In it he explained in great detail the Bullionist Controversy of 19th Century Britain.
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Viner was, together with Frank H. Knight, one of the leaders of the Chicago School in the interwar period. He however disagreed with Knight over cost theory - Knight supporting the Austrian doctrine of opportunity cost while Viner the Marshallian "real cost" theory. They however had great respect for each other and frequently collaborated on different projects. 
 +
 +
==Legacy==
 +
 +
Viner 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. It is however his work on the history of economic thought and international trade theory he remains the most remembered for.
 +
 +
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. All of them however respected him and had great admiration for his work. He deeply influenced Milton Friedman, who was his graduate student in 1933.
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==Publications==
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* Viner, Jacob 1917. [http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=123&layout=html Some Problems of Logical Method in Political Economy]. Journal of Political Economy, 25 (3), 236–260.
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* Viner, Jacob. 1937. Studies in the Theory of International Trade. London: Harper & Brothers.
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* Viner, Jacob. 1943. Trade Relations between Free-Market and Controlled Economies. Geneva: League of Nations
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* Viner, Jacob. 1950. The Customs Union Issue. New York: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
 +
* Viner, Jacob. 1951. International Economics.  Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press
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* Viner, Jacob. 1952. International Trade and Economic Development. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press
 +
* Viner, Jacob. 1958. The Long View and the Short: Studies in economic theory. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press
 +
* Viner, Jacob. 1964. Problems of Monetary Control. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press
 +
* Viner, Jacob. 1968. Man's Economic Status. In Clifford, J.L. and J.H. Plumb (eds.), Man versus Society in Eighteenth-Century Britain. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0521046750
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* Viner, Jacob. 1978. Religious Thought and Economic Society. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. ISBN: 0822303981
 +
* Viner, Jacob. 1991 (original published in 1923). Dumping: A problem in international trade. Fairfield, NJ: A.M. Kelley. ISBN: 0678013985
 +
* Viner, Jacob. 1991. Essays on the Intellectual History of Economics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN: 0691042667
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==References==
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* Groenewegen, Peter D. 1994. Jacob Viner and the history of economic thought. University of Sydney. ISBN: 0867588144
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* Jacob Viner. New School University, <http://www.newschool.edu>. Retrieved on August 13, 2007, <http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/viner.htm>
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* Jacob Viner Papers, 1909-1979. Princeton University Library. Retrieved on August 13, 2007, <http://diglib.princeton.edu/ead/eadGetDoc.xq?id=/ead/mudd/publicpolicy/MC138.EAD.xml>
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* Leitch, Alexander. 1978. A Princeton Companion. Retrieved on August 13, 2007, <http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/viner_jacob.html>
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* Robbins, Lionel Robbins. 1970. Jacob Viner; a tribute. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
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* Samuelson, Paul A, 1972. Jacob Viner, 1892-1970. Journal of Political Economy, 80(1), 5-11
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==External links==
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* [http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Viner.html Jacob Viner] – Biography in the Library of Economics and Liberty
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* [http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/viner.htm Jacob Viner] – Biography on New School University website
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* [http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/viner_jacob.html Jacob Viner] – Biography on Princeton University website
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* [http://diglib.princeton.edu/ead/eadGetDoc.xq?id=/ead/mudd/publicpolicy/MC138.EAD.xml Jacob Viner Papers, 1909-1979] – Viner’s work in Princeton University Library
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* [http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1414&layout=html Studies in the Theory of International Trade] – Full-text online version of Viner’s book
  
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{{Credit1|Jacob_Viner|85898366|}}
 
{{Credit1|Jacob_Viner|85898366|}}

Revision as of 03:56, 15 August 2007


Jacob Viner (May 3, 1892 - September 12, 1970), was a Canadian-born American economist, one of the leading figures of the Chicago School of the inter-war period. He made significant contributions to the theory of cost and production and international economics, but it was his work on the history of economic thought and the criticism of Keynes that made him famous.

Life

Jacob Viner was born in Montreal, Canada, to Samuel P. Viner and Rachel Smilovici, of a Romanian descend. Viner graduated with a B.A. from McGill University in 1914, where he studied economics under Stephen Leacock. He then moved to the United States and enrolled into graduate studies at the Harvard University. He earned his M.A. in 1915 and his Ph.D. in 1922, studying under Frank W. Taussig, the international trade economist. Viner's doctoral dissertation, Canada's Balance of International Indebtedness, was written under the supervision of Taussig.

Viner married Frances V. Klein of West Virginia in 1919, with whom he had two children: a son, Arthur, and a daughter, Ellen.

Viner was an advisor to the United States Tariff Commission from 1917 to 1919, and an advisor to the Shipping Board in 1918.

Viner served as an instructor at the University of Chicago from 1916 to 1917, and became an assistant professor of economics in 1919. In 1923, he was promoted to associate professor, and in 1925 to full professor. He first taught public finance and international economic policy, but later started teaching value and distribution theory, international economic theory, and the history of economic thought. During his time in Chicago, Viner elevated the level of the Economic Department, making it one of the top economic schools in the nation.

At various times he taught also at other universities, among others Stanford (1937), Yale (1942-43), and the University of California (1945). He taught twice at the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland (1930-31 and 1933-34), and the National University of Brazil (1950).

Viner served as an American representative to the Economic Committee of the League of Nations at Geneva in 1933. From 1934 to 1942, he periodically served as special assistant to the United States Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau, Jr.. Through his work, he influenced the economic policies of the Roosevelt administration, especially in the planning of the Social Security Program. He also served as president of the American Economic Association in 1939.

In 1946 Viner left for Princeton University, where he served as the Walker Professor of Economics and International Finance from 1950 to 1960. He taught the theory of international trade and the history of economic thought. He also served as a member of the Editorial Board of the University Press from 1950 to 1953, and as an elective Trustee of the University Press from 1959 to 1961. He was also a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton from 1946 to 1970.

Viner retired in 1960 but continued to research and write. From 1961 to 1962 he spent a year at Harvard University as the Taussig Research Professor. He was awarded Francis A. Walker Medal in 1962, and was elected a distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association in 1965.

Viner died on September 12, 1970, in Princeton, New Jersey.

Work

Viner’s early works were preoccupied with the problems of methodology in political economical theory. In them he defended the inductive method. In 1923 he published his Dumping: A problem in international trade, which marked his turn to the trade theory, which he continued to work on throughout his whole career.

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 held that the Great Depression was sustained by deflation in output prices dropping faster than the collapse in costs. He believed that the recovery of economy could be achieved by government-induced inflation, not by monetary expansion but rather by deficit spending. He was much in favor of fiscal policy, in opposition to fixed rules.

Viner criticized Keynes’ analysis of Great Depression over liquidity preference and over, as Viner saw it, oversimplified theory of effective demand. He characterized Keynes’ theory as "short-run" while seeing neoclassical theory better fit crisis-handling in the "long-run". In his book The Long View and the Short, Viner wrote: "No matter how refined and how elaborate the analysis, if it rests solely on the short view it will still be... a structure built on shifting sands."

In the history of economical thought, Viner was most famous for his work on Adam Smith and his magnum opus, Studies in the Theory of International Trade (1937). In it he explained in great detail the Bullionist Controversy of 19th Century Britain.

Viner was, together with Frank H. Knight, one of the leaders of the Chicago School in the interwar period. He however disagreed with Knight over cost theory - Knight supporting the Austrian doctrine of opportunity cost while Viner the Marshallian "real cost" theory. They however had great respect for each other and frequently collaborated on different projects.

Legacy

Viner 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. It is however his work on the history of economic thought and international trade theory he remains the most remembered for.

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. All of them however respected him and had great admiration for his work. He deeply influenced Milton Friedman, who was his graduate student in 1933.

Publications

  • Viner, Jacob 1917. Some Problems of Logical Method in Political Economy. Journal of Political Economy, 25 (3), 236–260.
  • Viner, Jacob. 1937. Studies in the Theory of International Trade. London: Harper & Brothers.
  • Viner, Jacob. 1943. Trade Relations between Free-Market and Controlled Economies. Geneva: League of Nations
  • Viner, Jacob. 1950. The Customs Union Issue. New York: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  • Viner, Jacob. 1951. International Economics. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press
  • Viner, Jacob. 1952. International Trade and Economic Development. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press
  • Viner, Jacob. 1958. The Long View and the Short: Studies in economic theory. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press
  • Viner, Jacob. 1964. Problems of Monetary Control. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press
  • Viner, Jacob. 1968. Man's Economic Status. In Clifford, J.L. and J.H. Plumb (eds.), Man versus Society in Eighteenth-Century Britain. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0521046750
  • Viner, Jacob. 1978. Religious Thought and Economic Society. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. ISBN: 0822303981
  • Viner, Jacob. 1991 (original published in 1923). Dumping: A problem in international trade. Fairfield, NJ: A.M. Kelley. ISBN: 0678013985
  • Viner, Jacob. 1991. Essays on the Intellectual History of Economics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN: 0691042667

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

External links

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