From The Collected Works of , compiled and edited by Robert Leeson and Charles G. Palm.

“In Memoriam, Jacob Viner, 1892-1970” by Milton Friedman 61 (March 1971): 247–248 © American Economic Association

Jacob Viner, one of the great teachers and scholars of of our time and all times and former president (1939) of the American Economic Association, died in Princeton, on September 12, 1970 at the age of 78.

Born in , Canada on May 3, 1892, Professor Viner attended McGill University (B. A., 1914) and then did his graduate work at (M.A., 1915; Ph.D., 1922). His doctoral dissertation, written under Professor Frank Taussig, received the David Ames Wells Prize, and was published in 1924 as Canada’s Balance of International Indebtedness. This book, which quickly established his reputation as an economic theorist of the first rank, not only extended the pure theory of international adjustment but was also a pioneer venture in combining rigorous theory with the thorough empirical testing of theoretical propositions.

In 1916, Viner joined the faculty of economics of the , where he remained until 1946, when he moved to . He retired from teaching in 1960, but continued active intellectual work as an Emeritus Professor at Princeton and as a permanent member of the Institute for Advanced Study.

The American Economic Association awarded him its highest honor, the Francis A. Walker Medal, in 1962. Thirteen universities in the United States and abroad recognized his professional achievements with honorary degrees.

Viner was active in public affairs, particularly from 1934 to 1939, when he was special assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, and when he played an important role in developing a research staff at the Treasury and in shaping national economic policy. In addition, he was special adviser to the U.S. Tariff Commission and U.S. Shipping Board during World War I; consultant to the Department of State 1943 to 1952; consultant to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; member of the Board of Directors of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Yet these public activities were very much a side line. Viner’s primary and activities were academic. Like his own mentor, F. W. Taussig, Viner was a great teacher. His basic course in Price Theory at the University of Chicago, which many students took in their first quarter of graduate study, was a deep intellectual experience. Some found it forbidding and developed a fear of the man and the subject. But to the abler students, it opened a new world. It gave them a feeling for the subtlety, power, and appeal of pure economic theory. In Viner’s hands, economic theory was not a set of formal abstract propositions; it was a set of tools, to be constructed with care and the utmost attention to logical rigor, but to be judged primarily by its usefulness in understanding and interpreting important economic phenomena. He presented economic theory as, in Marshall’s words, “an engine of analysis.” And he presented it with verve and color, making it an exciting and controversial subject. He had few peers for quickness of mind and tongue or ability to grasp new ideas or to spot and expose fallacies.

1 From The Collected Works of Milton Friedman, compiled and edited by Robert Leeson and Charles G. Palm.

Like Taussig also, he was a great editor. He edited or coedited the Journal of Political Economy for 18 years, from 1928 to 1946, keeping it in the forefront of the professional economic journals of the world. He set and maintained the very highest standards of integrity in editing, and displayed a catholicity and tolerance that made the JPE a widely ranging journal containing contributions embodying different approaches and reflecting different schools of thought.

Viner’s scholarly influence was exerted in many areas: In price theory, where his article on cost curves has been justly famous as a major improvement in Marshall’s analysis of the relation between costs and supply; in the history of economic thought, where his incisive review of the enormous mercantilist pamphlet literature led to the rehabilitation of ’s judgment on as a theory; in studies of the balance of power and the economic aspect of imperialism, which stimulated extensive further work by his students as well as other scholars.

His major scholarly impact, however, was unquestionably in . In addition to his doctoral thesis, he published a number of seminal works, including Dumping (1922), Studies in the Theory of International Trade (1937), and Customs Unions (1950). His Studies combined his special in trade with his deep and abiding interest in the history of economic thought. It remains the definitive work on many aspects of the development of both monetary theory and international trade theory. His small book on Customs Unions introduced a fresh analysis of an ancient subject that has dominated further discussion of the problem.

Viner was a man of wide culture and interests, a fascinating conversationalist, warm friend, devoted father and husband, an ever-ready source of advice, and help to a legion of present and former students, colleagues and friends.

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