John Kenneth Galbraith

John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908–April 29, 2006) was an influential Canadian-American economist. He was a Keynesian and an institutionalist, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism and progressivism. His books on economic topics were bestsellers in the 1950s and 1960s. Image File history File links JohnKennethGalbraithOWI.jpg‎ File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): John Kenneth Galbraith ... Image File history File links JohnKennethGalbraithOWI.jpg‎ File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): John Kenneth Galbraith ... October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years). ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Face-to-face trading interactions among on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor Economics or oeconomics is the study of human choice behaviour. ... Keynesian economics (pronounced ), also called Keynesianism, or Keynesian Theory, is an economic theory based on the ideas of 20th century British economist John Maynard Keynes. ... Institutional economics focuses on understanding the role of human-made institutions in shaping economic behavior. ... American liberalism—that is, liberalism in the United States of America—is a broad political and philosophical mindset, favoring individual liberty, and opposing restrictions on liberty, whether they come from established religion, from government regulation, from the existing class structure, or from multi-national corporations. ... In the United States the term Progressivism refers to two political movements: first, political progressivism rooted in optimistic social and economic reform movements of the late 1800s and early 1900s; and second, ideological or modern left-wing progressivism which sees itself as a reform movement to the left of Democratic...

Galbraith was a prolific author who produced four dozen books and over a thousand articles on various subjects. Among his most famous works was a popular trilogy on economics, American Capitalism (1952), The Affluent Society (1958), and The New Industrial State (1967). He taught at Harvard University for many years. Galbraith was active in politics, serving in the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson; and among other roles served as U.S. ambassador to India under Kennedy. See also: 1951 in literature, other events of 1952, 1953 in literature, list of years in literature. ... The Affluent Society is a 1958 book by John Kenneth Galbraith. ... ). Categories: Stub ... The New Industrial State is a 1967 book by John Kenneth Galbraith. ... See also: 1966 in literature, other events of 1967, 1968 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... FDR redirects here. ... Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884–December 26, 1972) was the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953); as Vice President, he succeeded to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ... Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States (1963–1969). ...

He was one of a few two-time recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He received one from President Truman in 1946 and another from President Bill Clinton in 2000^[1]. He was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, for his contributions to strengthening ties between India and the United States.^[2]. The Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States, considered the equivalent of the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Padma Vibhushan is Indias second highest civilian honour. ...

Life

Early life and teaching

Galbraith was born to Canadians of Scottish descent, William Archibald Galbraith and Sarah Catherine Kendall, in Iona Station, Ontario, Canada and was raised in Dutton, Ontario. His father was a farmer and school teacher and mother a political activist. Both his parents were supporters of the United Farmers of Ontario in the 1920s. After initially studying agriculture, Galbraith graduated from the Ontario Agricultural College (then affiliated with the University of Toronto, and now the University of Guelph) with a B.Sc degree in 1931, and then received an M.Sc (1933) and Ph.D in Agricultural Economics (1934) from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1934, he also became a tutor at Harvard University. In 1937, he became a United States citizen (at a time when neither the US nor Canada contemplated dual citizenship), but he was honoured by his native country to his life's end and frequently adverted to his Canadian origins^{[citation needed]}. In the same year, he took a year-long fellowship at Cambridge University, England, where he became influenced by John Maynard Keynes. Galbraith was a very tall man, growing to a reported height of 6'9". Iona Station in Elgin County, Southwest Ontario is where the barn of Wayne Kellestine, prime suspect of the Shedden Massacre is located. ... Dutton/Dunwich is a municipality located in western Elgin County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. ... The United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) were the Ontario section of the nation-wide United Farmers movement that arose in Canada in the early part of the 20th century. ... The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) was one of three founding colleges of the University of Guelph in 1964. ... The University of Toronto (U of T) is a coeducational public research university in Toronto, Ontario. ... It has been suggested that Guelph_Magic_Bus be merged into this article or section. ... A Bachelor of Science (B.S., B.Sc. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... Ph. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, and by other names, see below) is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California system. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... // Possession of citizenship U.S. citizens have the right to participate in the political system of the United States (with most U.S. states having restrictions for felons, and federal restrictions on naturalized persons), are represented and protected abroad by the United States (through U.S. embassies and consulates), and... The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective sets of entry requirements in the United Kingdom. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... John Maynard Keynes (right) and Harry Dexter White at the Bretton Woods Conference John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, CB (pronounced canes, IPA ) (5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946) was a British economist whose ideas, called Keynesian economics, had a major impact on modern economic and political theory as well...

Galbraith taught intermittently at Harvard in the period 1934 to 1939 ^[3]. From 1939 to 1940, he taught at Princeton University. From 1943 until 1948, he served as editor of Fortune magazine. In 1949, he was appointed professor of economics at Harvard. Princeton University is a coeducational private university located in Princeton, New Jersey in the United States of America. ... Fortune magazine is Americas longest-running business magazine. ...

WWII and Price Administration

During World War II, Galbraith was America's "price czar," charged with keeping inflation from crippling the war effort. He served as deputy head of the Office of Price Administration. Although little appreciated at the time, the actual power he wielded in this position was so great that he joked later of the rest of his career being downhill. At the end of the war, he was asked to carry out a survey of US and allied strategic bombing, and concluded the costs outweighed the anticipated benefits and did not shorten the war.^{[citation needed]} After the war, he became an adviser to post-war administrations in Germany and Japan. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Bold textThe Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management by the United States Government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. ... The remains of German town of Wesel after intensive Allied area bombing in 1945 (destruction rate 98 % of all buildings) // Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war style campaign that attempts to destroy the economic ability of a nation-state to wage war. ...

Political posts under Kennedy

John Kenneth Galbraith, circa 1960

During his time as an adviser to President John F. Kennedy, Galbraith was appointed as U.S. ambassador to India from 1961 to 1963. There he became an intimate of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and extensively advised the Indian government on economic matters; he harshly criticised Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British rule, as to Mountbatten's passive role in the partition of India in 1947 and the bloody partition of the Punjab and Bengal. While in India, he helped establish one of the first computer science departments, at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Even after demitting office, Galbraith remained a friend and supporter of India and even hosted a lunch for Indian students at Harvard every year on graduation day. Image File history File links JKG_bookcover-sm-1. ... Image File history File links JKG_bookcover-sm-1. ... John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ... This is a list of ambassadors from the United States. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Jawaharlal Nehru (Hindi: , IPA: ) (November 14, 1889 – May 27, 1964) was a senior political leader of the Indian National Congress, was a pivotal figure during the Indian independence movement and served as the first Prime Minister of the Republic of India. ... Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (June 25, 1900 – August 27, 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are the premier educational institutions for science and technology spread all over India . ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: , Urdu: ‎, translation: Northern Province, IPA: ,  ), also popularly known by its abbreviation U.P. It is the most populous and fifth largest state in the Union of India. ...

In 1972 he served as president of the American Economic Association. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Later life and recognition

Galbraith was one of the last living former advisers to President Franklin Roosevelt.

In 1997 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada^[4] and in 2000 he was awarded his second U. S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Seal of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada is Canadas highest civilian honour, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the Orders Latin motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means (those) desiring a better country. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States, considered the equivalent of the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. ...

On April 29, 2006, Galbraith died at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts of natural causes, after a two-week stay in the hospital. April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...   Settled: 1630 â€“ Incorporated: 1636 Zip Code(s): 02138, 02139, 02140, 02141, 02142 â€“ Area Code(s): 617 / 857 Official website: http://www. ...

Family

Galbraith married Catherine Merriam Atwater on September 17, 1937, whom he met while she was a Radcliffe student. They resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and had a summer home in Newfane, Vermont. They had four sons: J. Alan Galbraith is a partner in the prominent Washington D.C. law firm Williams & Connolly; Douglas Galbraith died in childhood of leukaemia. Peter W. Galbraith has been a US diplomat who served as Ambassador to Croatia and is a widely published commentator on American foreign policy - particularly in the Balkans and the Middle East; James K. Galbraith is a prominent progressive economist. The Galbraiths also have ten grandchildren. [1] September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...   Settled: 1630 â€“ Incorporated: 1636 Zip Code(s): 02138, 02139, 02140, 02141, 02142 â€“ Area Code(s): 617 / 857 Official website: http://www. ... Newfane, Vermont Newfane is a town located in Windham County, Vermont. ... Williams & Connolly LLP is a prominent litigation firm based in Washington, D.C. The firm was founded by legendary trial lawyer Edward Bennett Williams. ... Peter W. Galbraith (b. ... James K. Galbraith is a progressive American economist who writes frequently for mainstream and left-wing publications on economic topics. ...

Works

The Essential Galbraith, 2001

Although he was a former president of the American Economic Association, Galbraith was considered an iconoclast by many economists. This is because he rejected the technical analyses and mathematical models of neo-classical economics as being divorced from reality. Rather, following Thorstein Veblen, he believed that economic activity could not be distilled into inviolable laws, but rather was a complex product of the cultural and political milieu in which it occurs. In particular, he believed that important factors such as advertising, the separation between corporate ownership and management, oligopoly, and the influence of government and military spending had been largely neglected by most economists because they are not amenable to axiomatic descriptions. In this sense, he worked as much in political economy as in classical economics. Image File history File links The_Essential_Galbraith. ... Image File history File links The_Essential_Galbraith. ... The American Economic Association, or AEA, is the oldest and most important professional organization in the field of economics. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... Neoclassical economics is the grouping of a number of schools of thought in economics. ... Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen Thorstein Bunde Veblen (July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was a Norwegian-American economist and sociologist. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Political economy was the original term for the study of production, the acts of buying and selling, and their relationships to laws, customs and government. ...

His work included several best selling works throughout the fifties and sixties. After his retirement, he remained in the public consciousness by continuing to write new books and revise his old works. However, from the Nixon presidency onwards, he was regarded as something of an anachronism, as the public discourse centered more and more around the pro-market, small-government, anti-regulation and low-tax orthodoxies which came to prominence in the 1980s. In addition to his books, he wrote hundreds of essays and a number of novels. Among his novels, A Tenured Professor in particular achieved critical acclaim. Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... A Tenured Professor (1990) is a satirical novel by Canadian/American economist and Professor Emeritus at Harvard John Kenneth Galbraith about a liberal university teacher who sets out to change American society by making money and then using it for the public good. ...

Economics books

In American Capitalism: The concept of countervailing power published in 1952, Galbraith outlined how the American economy in the future would be managed by a triumvirate of big business, big labor, and an activist government. Galbraith termed the reaction of lobby groups and unions "countervailing power." He contrasted this arrangement with the previous pre-depression era where big business had relatively free rein over the economy. 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In his most famous work, The Affluent Society (1958), which became a bestseller, Galbraith outlined his view that to become successful, post-World War II America should make large investments in items such as highways and education using funds from general taxation. The Affluent Society is a 1958 book by John Kenneth Galbraith. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Galbraith also critiqued the assumption that continually increasing material production is a sign of economic and societal health. Because of this Galbraith is sometimes considered one of the first post-materialists. In this book, he claims to have coined the phrase "conventional wisdom." (Galbraith, 1958 The Affluent Society: Chapter 2 "The Concept of Conventional Wisdom") Post materialism is an economic philosophy focussing on quality of life and enviornmental sustainability over income and material possessions. ...

Galbraith worked on the book while in Switzerland, and had originally titled it Why The Poor Are Poor but changed it to The Affluent Society at his wife's suggestion.^[5]

The Affluent Society contributed (likely to a significant degree, given that Galbraith had the ear of President Kennedy ^[6]) to the "war on poverty," the government spending policy first brought on by the administrations of Kennedy and Johnson. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In The New Industrial State (1967), Galbraith argues that very few industries in the United States fit the model of perfect competition. A third related work was Economics and the Public Purpose (1973), in which he expanded on these themes by discussing, among other issues, the subservient role of women in the unrewarded management of ever-greater consumption, and the role of the technostructure in the large firm in influencing perceptions of sound economic policy aims. 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Perfect competition is an economic model that describes a hypothetical market form in which no producer or consumer has the market power to influence prices. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Technostructure is a term coined by the economist John Kenneth Galbraith in The New Industrial State (1967) to describe the group of technicians within an enterprise (or an administrative body) with considerable influence and control on its economy. ...

In A Short History of Financial Euphoria (1990), he traces financial bubbles through several centuries, and cautions that what currently seems to be "the next great thing" may not be that great and may have quite irrational factors promoting it. A common factor in financial bubbles is easy access to borrowed money for speculation. This article is about the year. ...

Many of Galbraith's best known works are controversial, particularly to libertarian and those of the Austrian schools who disagree with many of his assertions (see Controversy). See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... The Austrian School, also known as “the Vienna School” and as “the Psychological School”, is a school of economic thought that advocates the adherence to strict methodological individualism. ...

He was an important figure in 20th-century institutional economics, and provides perhaps the exemplar institutionalist perspective on Economic Power^[7]. Institutional economics focuses on understanding the role of human-made institutions in shaping economic behavior. ...

Galbraith cherished The New Industrial State and The Affluent Society as his two best.^[8] Economist and friend of Galbraith Michael Sharpe visited Galbraith in 2004, on which occasion Galbraith gifted him with a copy of what would be Galbraith's last book, The Economics of Innocent Fraud. Galbraith confided in Sharpe that "[t]his is my best book", an assertion Galbraith delivered "a little mischievously." ^[9]

Some of Galbraith's Ideas

In The Affluent Society Galbraith asserts that classical economic theory was true for the eras before the present, which were times of "poverty"; now, however, we have moved from a state of poverty into an age of "affluence," and for such an age, a completely new economic theory is needed.

Galbraith's main argument is that as society becomes relatively more affluent, so private business must "create" consumer wants through advertising, and while it generates artificial affluence through the production of commercial goods and services, the "public sector" becomes neglected as a result. He pointed out that while many Americans were able to purchase luxury items, their parks were polluted and their children attended poorly maintained schools. He argues that markets alone will underprovide (or fail to provide at all) for many public goods, whereas private goods are typically 'overprovided' due the process of advertising creating artificial demand above individual's basic needs.

He proposed curbing the consumption of certain products through greater use of consumption taxes, arguing this could be more efficient than other forms of taxes such as labour or land taxes.

Galbraith's major proposal was a program he called "investment in men" - a large-scale governmental education program to influence the wants and tastes of the citizenry. He advocated developing a "New Class" of citizen, "with its emphasis on education and its ultimate effect on intellectual, literary, cultural and artistic demands...". Galbraith wished to entrust the future of the American republic into the hands of the members of this class, asserting that their ability to see beyond "the conventional wisdom" entitled them to govern.

Criticism of Galbraith's Work

Galbraith's work and The Affluent Society in particular drew sharp criticism from free-market supporters at the time of its publication.

Author and capitalism advocate Ayn Rand stated that "Galbraith advocates... medieval feudalism."^[10] This box:      Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately or corporately owned and operated for profit, in which investment is determined by private decision, and in which distribution, production and pricing of goods and services are determined in a largely free... It has been suggested that The Ayn Rand Collective be merged into this article or section. ...

Libertarian Murray Rothbard in his detailed criticisms of the Affluent Society in Man, Economy and State summarized that it is "replete with fallacies ... dogmatic assertions and time-honored rhetorical devices in place of reasoned argument."^[11] He characterized much of Galbraith's writing (particularly his references to "conventional wisdom") as a "sustained sneer". Murray Newton Rothbard (March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was a highly influential American economist, historian and natural law theorist belonging to the Austrian School of Economics who helped define modern libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism. ... Man, Economy, and State is a treatise on economic principles by Murray Rothbard, and is one of the most important books in the Austrian School of economics (others are Ludwig von Mises The Theory of Money and Credit and Human Action) When originally published in 1962, the final eight chapters... Appeal to ridicule is a logical fallacy which presents the opponents argument in a way that appears ridiculous, often to the extent of creating a straw man of the actual argument. ...

Milton Friedman in "Friedman on Galbraith, and on curing the British disease" views Galbraith as a 20th-century version of the early 19th-century Tory radical of Great Britain. He asserts that Galbraith believes in the superiority of aristocracy and in its paternalistic authority, that consumers should not be allowed choice and that all should be determined by those with "higher minds": Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and public intellectual who made major contributions to the fields of macroeconomics, microeconomics, economic history and statistics while advocating laissez-faire capitalism. ... The term Tory (from Irish Gaelic tóraighe, an outlaw or guerrilla fighter, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms — literally meaning pursued man) applied to the Tory Party, the ancestor of the modern UK Conservative Party. ...

"Many reformers -- Galbraith is not alone in this -- have as their basic objection to a free market that it frustrates them in achieving their reforms, because it enables people to have what they want, not what the reformers want. Hence every reformer has a strong tendency to be averse to a free market."

Memoirs

The Scotch (published in the UK under two alternative titles as Made to Last and The Non-potable Scotch: A Memoir of the Clansmen in Canada)^[12] (illustrated by Samuel H. Bryant), Galbraith's account of his boyhood environment in southern Ontario, was written in 1963. Some members of his boyhood community claimed that Galbraith had misrepresented the town of Dutton and that he had grown 'too big for his britches.'^{[citation needed]} This resentment from the Dutton community was not as prevalent in later years. Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages None Flower White Trillium Tree Eastern White Pine Bird Common Loon Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 106 24 Area Total...

Galbraith's 1981 memoir, A Life in Our Times^[13] stimulated discussion of his thought, his life and times after his retirement from academic life. In 2004, the publication of an authorised biography, John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics^[14] by friend and fellow progressive economist Richard Parker, renewed interest in his career and ideas. Richard Parker is an economist from the USA. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Oxford, and has has worked for the United Nations Development Programme. ...

Bibliography

The Great Crash, 1929 is an economic history of the lead-up to the Wall Street Crash of 1929, written by John Kenneth Galbraith. ... The Affluent Society is a 1958 book by John Kenneth Galbraith. ... The New Industrial State is a 1967 book by John Kenneth Galbraith. ... A Tenured Professor (1990) is a satirical novel by Canadian/American economist and Professor Emeritus at Harvard John Kenneth Galbraith about a liberal university teacher who sets out to change American society by making money and then using it for the public good. ...

Quotations

• "Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists."
• "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof."
• "It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled sea of thought."
• "If you feed enough oats to the horse, the sparrow will survive on the highway." - in relation to trickle-down economics
• "The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable."
• "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
• "If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error."
• "It is a well known and very important fact that America's founding fathers did not like taxation without representation. It is a lesser known and equally important fact that they did not much like taxation with representation."
• (Having been asked how he managed to write so much) "I wake up early, have a good breakfast, and begin."
• "Humility is not always compatible with truth."
• "People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage."
• "Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."
• "One of my greatest pleasures in my writing has come from the thought that perhaps my work might annoy someone of comfortably pretentious position. Then comes the realization that such people rarely read."
• "As a military ally, the entire Laos nation is clearly inferior to a battalion of conscientious objectors from World War I." (regarding the Nixon administration's suggestion that the addition of Laos as an ally in the Vietnam War would significantly help the US win the war)
• "The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking."

This article or section should be merged with Trickle-down effect Trickle-down theory, also known as trickle down economics, was a term used by detractors and advocates alike for some of the policies of Ronald Reagan. ...

Apocryphal Quotations

Some quotes have been falsely attributed to Galbraith in Internet signature files, and have thus become widespread, including: In Judeo-Christian theologies, apocrypha refers to religious Sacred text that have questionable authenticity or are otherwise disputed. ...

• "Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite." (see [2], also see talk).
• "Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups."

See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

John Kenneth Galbraith

• Liberalism
• List of liberal thinkers
• The Best and the Brightest

Image File history File links Wikiquote-logo-en. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value. ... This article is part of or related to the Liberalism series Categories: Liberalism | Lists of people | Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs ... The Best and the Brightest (1972) is an account by journalist David Halberstam on the origins of the Vietnam War. ...

References

1. ^ Liberal thinker JK Galbraith dies, an April 2006 BBC article
2. ^ Galbraith receives prestigious award, a June 2001 Harvard News Gazette article
3. ^ John Kenneth Galbraith, Longtime Economics Professor, Dies at 97, an April 2006 Harvard Crimson article
4. ^ Order of Canada citation, from the website of the Governor General of Canada
5. ^ Galbraith interview with Colonel Anil Athale (retd), July 2003
6. ^ John Kenneth Galbraith, 97, Dies; Economist, Diplomat and Writer a New York Times obiturary from April 30, 2006
7. ^ Political Economy: The Contest of Economic Ideas, 2002, by Frank Stilwell
8. ^ Adams, Philip (1999), Interview on Radio National, Late Night Live, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Accessed 17 Jan 2006.
9. ^ Sharpe, Michael (2006), John Kenneth Galbraith, 1908-2006, Challenge: the Magazine of Economic Affairs, 49 (4):7
10. ^ Rand, Ayn (1961). Lecture "Political Vacuum of Our Age," presented to a group of women in journalism (Indiana, 1961) Reprinted in Ayn Rand Answers: The Best of Her Q & A. NAL Trade (November 1, 2005). ISBN 0-451-21665-2.
11. ^ Man, Economy and State, Second Edition, Chapter 12: The Economics of Violent Intervention in the Market, a February 2004 Ludwig von Mises Institute publication
12. ^ ISBN 0-395-39382-5
13. ^ ISBN 0-395-31135-7
14. ^ Promotional website for John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics

The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of £4 billion. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... The Harvard Crimson, of Harvard University, is the United States oldest continuously published daily college newspaper. ... The Governor General of Canada (French: Gouverneure générale du Canada or Gouverneur général du Canada) is the representative of the Canadian Monarch. ... The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation or ABC (formerly the Australian Broadcasting Commission) is Australias national non-profit public broadcaster. ... Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, Auburn, Alabama The Ludwig von Mises Institute (LvMI), based in Auburn, Alabama, is a libertarian academic organisation engaged in research and scholarship in the fields of economics, philosophy and political economy. ...

Sources

• Robert Sobel The Worldly Economists (1980).

Robert Sobel in a promotional photo for his publisher. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

External links

• Short Galbraith biography at encyclopedia.com
• Galbraith biography at econlib.org
• The History of Economic Thought Profile
• John Kenneth Galbraith's campaign contributions
• John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006)
• "John Kenneth Galbraith, 97, Dies; Economist Held a Mirror to Society", The New York Times, April 30, 2006.
• "John Kenneth Galbraith, writer, economist, dies", The Boston Globe, April 30, 2006.
• "John Kenneth Galbraith; Popularized Modern Economics", The Washington Post, May 1, 2006.
• CBC Obituary
• Associated Press Obituary via USA Today
• Influential economist Galbraith dies at 97 Alternate AP obituary
• Harvard University's Obituary "John Kenneth Galbraith, economist, professor, and author: Harvard icon dies at 97"
• News story and biography from the Medal of Freedom website, on the 2004 award of his second medal.
• John Kenneth Galbraith dies Dollars & Sense, May 3, 2006.
• J.K. Galbraith Celebrated Power, Not Freedom Ludwig von Mises Institute, May 15th, 2006
• John Kenneth Galbraith At Find A Grave