Gardiner Means
Gardiner Coit Means (born June 8, 1896 in Windham (Connecticut) , USA ; † February 15, 1988 in Vienna (Virginia) , USA) was an American economist , government advisor and author .
Life
While studying at Harvard University , he volunteered for military service in the United States Army in 1917 . There he served first as a lieutenant in the infantry and then went to the United States Army Signal Corps , the unit for reconnaissance and communication. During his training as a pilot, his single-engine aircraft went into a tailspin over Long Island at an altitude of about 600 meters. By skillful maneuvering he could not stop the spin, but he could compensate for the flight movements so that he was thrown out of the fuselage when the machine crashed. He survived passed out with only a few bruises.
After the First World War, Means worked for the US aid organization Near East Relief in Turkey and then studied for two years at the Lowell Textile School , now the Lowell Technological Institute in Lowell (Massachusetts) . After a few years as an employee of textile processing companies, he returned to Harvard University in 1927, where he graduated with an MA . In the same year he married the economist and college professor Caroline Farrar Ware . The next four years, he conducted research in economics at the Columbia Law School of Columbia University in Manhattan , New York City . During this time he received his PhD from Harvard University. In 1932 he published his first work, The Modern Corporation and Private Property, together with Adolf Augustus Berle .
In 1933, shortly after the inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt , he went to Washington, DC , as an advisor to then Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace , where he also served as an advisor to the National Recovery Administration . During this time, as a supporter of institutional economics, he was influential in setting Roosevelt's New Deal policy . Two years later he became a member of the National Planning Board and then worked for various government institutions such as the Budget Bureau . For the National Resources Committee , he was the executive director responsible for drafting various reports.
In 1936 Means wrote the book The Modern Economy in Action with his wife and in the following years devoted himself to research for private organizations such as the Committee for Economic Development or the Fund for the Republic . In 1962 he published the book Pricing Power and Public Interest , in which he described how inflation in the USA in the 1950s was fueled by the fact that, for example, steel prices rose six times faster than labor costs. A consequence of this publication was the US federal government's restriction on steel prices.
Means died at his home northwest of Washington DC at the age of 91. His last work, A Monetary Theory of Employment , was published after his death in 1994.
Publications
- 1932: with Adolf Augustus Berle: The Modern Corporation and Private Property .
- New edition 2002, 4th edition: Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, ISBN 0-88738-887-6 .
- 1936: with Caroline F. Weare: The Modern Economy in Action . Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York City, USA.
- 1938: as editor for: United States National Resources Committee, Industrial Committee: Patterns of Resource Use. A Technical Report Prepared by the Industrial Section . United States Government Printing Office , Washington DC
- 1939: as responsible director: The Structure of the American Economy , 2 volumes. United States National Resources Committee, United Staes Government Printing Office, Washington DC
- 1962: Pricing Power and the Public Interest .
- 1962: The corporate revolution in America .
- 1975: with others: The Roots of Inflation: The International Crisis . B. Franklin, New York City, ISBN 0-891020365 .
- 1994: A Monetary Theory of Employment . ME Sharpe, Amonk, New York State, ISBN 1-563244772 .
literature
- Kurt K. Marek: The theory of administered prices according to GC Means in a critical-constructive analysis: A contribution to the explanation of stagflation . Marchal-und-Matzenbacher-Wissenschafts-Verlag, Krefeld 1988, ISBN 3-88358-084-8 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Means, Gardiner |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Means, Gardiner Coit; Means, Gardiner Coit Jr. (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American economist, government advisor, and author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 8, 1896 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Windham , Connecticut |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 15, 1988 |
| Place of death | Vienna , Virginia |