Harry Gordon Johnson

For other people named Harry Johnson, seeHarry Johnson (disambiguation).

Harry Gordon Johnson
Harry Gordon Johnson 1976 in Kiel, Germany
Born	(1923-05-26)May 26, 1923 Toronto, Ontario,Canada
Died	May 9, 1977(1977-05-09)(aged 53) Geneva,Switzerland
Academic career
Institution	University of Chicago,London School of Economics,Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
Field	Economics
School or tradition	Monetarism
Alma mater	University of Cambridge,University of Toronto,Harvard University
Doctoral advisor	James Duesenberry
Influences	Joseph Schumpeter

Harry Gordon Johnson,OC(26 May 1923 – 9 May 1977) was aCanadianeconomistwho studied topics such asinternational tradeandinternational finance.

Nobel laureateJames Tobinsaid about him: "For the economics profession throughout the world, the third quarter of this century was an Age of Johnson.... It was his impact on his own profession... that justifies calling the era his Age."

Appointed professor of economics at Manchester University in 1956, he left upon being appointed Professor of Economics at theUniversity of Chicagofrom 1959 (and from 1969, the Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor) until his death in 1977. He was also Professor of Economics at theLondon School of Economicsfrom 1966 until 1974. And he briefly was professor at theGraduate Institute of International Studiesin Geneva until his death. He was twice Editor of theJournal of Political Economy.He had a stroke at age 49 and died prematurely from a second stroke at age 53.

In 1976 the Canadian government named him an officer of theOrder of Canadaand in 1977 he was named a distinguished fellow of theAmerican Economic Association.

TheCanadian Economics Associationawards an annual Harry G. Johnson Prize for the best paper published in theCanadian Journal of Economics.

Early life and education

He was born on 26 May 1923 inToronto, Ontario,Canada, the elder son of two children of Henry Herbert Johnson, newspaperman and later secretary of theLiberal Party of Ontario,and his wife, Frances Lily Muat, lecturer in child psychology at the Institute of Child Study of theUniversity of Toronto.

Johnson was educated at the University of Toronto schools and then obtained scholarships to the University of Toronto, where he studied law and economics. According to W. Max Corden in theOxford Dictionary of Biography,it was at this time that he "developed an interest in the history of thought and was much influenced byHarold Innis's lectures and ideas on Canadian and generalized economic history. "He graduated in 1943 and subsequently became, for one year, acting professor and sole member of the economics staff atSt Francis Xavier University,inAntigonish, Nova Scotia."In 1944", explains Corden, "Johnson volunteered for active service in theCanadian armed forcesand, after training, was sent toEnglandin 1945, eventually doing clerical work inCanada House."This was then followed by further study atJesus College, Cambridge,where he obtained a first-classBAdegree in economics under the tutelage of the Marxist economistMaurice Dobb;a return to theUniversity of Toronto,where he earned hisMAdegree; and then finally doctoral research atHarvard University,where he completed the course work requirements in three terms.It was while at Harvard that he became a follower of the ideas ofJoseph Schumpeter.

In 1948 he married Elizabeth Scott, daughter of Harold Victor Serson, civil engineer. She later became one of the editors of the collected writings of Keynes. They had one son and one daughter.

Career

He held permanent teaching positions throughout Europe and Canada, as well as visiting positions at universities worldwide. Notable were his time with Chicago from 1959 to 1977, also during 1966–74 he worked at the London School of Economics. He also held a visiting professorship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and he briefly was professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva until his death.

As Johnson was universally known, was an inveterate conference-goer. In addition he visited innumerable universities, especially inCanadaand inAsia.He "circled the globe like a planet" (Scott 80). This travelling style began in the fifties when he was teaching refresher courses for economists inKarachiandSingapore.His travelling and ubiquitousness became legendary.

Physically, he was a large man, overweight or at least stout, with piercing dark brown eyes. But he was far from sluggish, and gave an impression of intense and disciplined intellectual and physical energy. He was often loudly and informally dressed. His energy was kept under control by his continuouscarvingof wooden statuettes, of which he made thousands in many different artistic styles. He carved at seminars and in his room, throughout the most concentrated discussions of intricate economic problems.

EconomistJagdish Bhagwati,writing about Johnson's productivity and accessibility, said, "Countless numbers of manuscripts would reach him, from aspiring students ofinternational economicsand somehow Harry found the energy and time to read them carefully and write back to the authors promptly.... once... when he was staying with us, my wife asked him what he had been doing in the early hours of the morning when we had been still asleep. 'I read two manuscripts, one indifferent and the other bad; what is worse, I could have written one good paper in that time.' "

He was a strong drinker and his reputation atLondon School of Economics and Political Sciencewas that he travelled weekly betweenLondonandChicago,and he would enter each flight with a bottle ofSouthern Comfortand would leave it with a fully written paper! According to Moggeridge he was often deeply intoxicated whilst attending seminars and workshops. Despite his prolific writing, he was criticized for essentially rewriting the same articles over and over.George Stiglerwas asked about Johnson's 500 published papers versus his 100. Stigler replied, "Yes, but mine were all different."

Harry Johnson died of astrokeinGenevaon 9 May 1977; he was survived by his wife. The enormous admiration and affection for Johnson was reflected in the numerous obituaries by members of the economics profession that appeared soon afterwards. "For the economics profession throughout the world, the third quarter of this century was an Age of Johnson" (Tobin 443). "He bestrode our discipline like aColossus","He was an institution "(ibid.)." Canada lost one of its greatest sons ". He was" larger than life’ (the most common remark). "The one and only Harry" (The Economist,14 May 1977, 121).

Legacy

Johnson made many contributions to the development ofHecksher-Ohlintheory and until the 1970s according to Moggeridge, was the second most quoted trade theorist afterPaul Samuelson.Johnson also helped to found the monetary approach to thebalance of paymentsand wrote many high quality surveys ofmonetary economicsthat helped to clarify the issues in question. Despite being perhaps the most prolific economist of the modern era, Johnson's star has waned as is evidenced by the significant fall (discussed in Moggeridge's biography) in citations to his work in the past decade.

TheCanadian Economics Associationpresents aHarry Johnson Prizeevery year for the best article to appear in theCanadian Journal of Economicsin the preceding year.

Opinions

He retained a lifelong interest in Canadian politics and was heavily critical ofnationalistandinterventionistpolicies that prevailed at his time.

In his policy-oriented writings, he clearly showed his beliefs in personal freedom and markets.

Selected works

Writings

Johnson published many works on international and monetary economics theory. He also wrote many works aimed at the general public and policymakers.

According toPaul Samuelson,when Johnson died he had eighteen papers in proof: "That is dying with your boots on!" said Samuelson

Johnson earned many honours. In 1977 he was named a distinguished fellow of theAmerican Economic Association,and in 1976 the Canadian government named him an officer of theOrder of Canada.

Johnson wrote a large number ofbooksandarticles,the total of his writings were:

• 526 professional articles
• 41 books and pamphlets
• 1953. "Optimum Tariffs and Retaliation." Review of Economic Studies 21, no. 2: 142–153.
• 1958. "Demand Theory Further Revised or Goods Are Goods,"Economica, 2, 98:149.
• 1959. "British Monetary Statistics." Economica 26 (February): 1–17.
• 1961. "The ‘General Theory’ After Twenty-five Years." American Economic Review 51 (May): 1–17.
• 1963. The Canadian Quandary: Economic Problems and Policies. Toronto: McGraw-Hill.
• 1968. Economic Policies Towards Less Developed Countries. London.
• 1969. Essays in Monetary Economics. 2d ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• 1969. "Financial and monetary problems: Britain and the EEC", inEconomics: Britain and the EEC.London: Longmans (Ed. byM.A.G. van Meerhaeghe).
• 1971. "The Keynesian Revolution and the Monetarist Counter-revolution." American Economic Review 61 (May): 1–14.
• 1972. Further Essays in Monetary Economics. London: George Allen and Unwin.
• 1973. The Theory of Income Distribution. London: Gray-Mills.

Bibliography

• Donald Moggridge:Harry Johnson. A Life in Economics.New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. (ISBN978-0-521-87482-3).Review Article by Deena Khatkhate, EPW.

External links

• Works by or about Harry Gordon JohnsonatInternet Archive