Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T23:21:53.572Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

“THE INITIATED”: AARON DIRECTOR AND THE CHICAGO MONETARY TRADITION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2022

George S. Tavlas*
Affiliation:
George S. Tavlas: Bank of Greece and the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
*
Correspondence may be addressed to George Tavlas, Bank of Greece, 21 E Venizelos Ave, Athens, 10250, Greece, Tel. no. +30 210 320 2370; Fax. no. +30 210 320 2432; email address: [email protected].

Abstract

Aaron Director taught at the University of Chicago from 1930 to 1934 and from 1946 to 1965. Both periods corresponded to crucial stages in the development of Chicago monetary economics under the leaderships of Henry Simons and Milton Friedman, respectively. Any impact that Director may have had in the development of those stages and on the relationship between the views of Simons and Friedman has been frustrated by Director’s lack of publications. I provide evidence, much of it for the first time, showing the important role played by Director in the development of Chicago monetary economics, including his role as a transmitter of Simons’s ideas to Friedman.

Type
Articles
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the History of Economics Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I have benefitted from comments from the editor, Pedro Duarte, two referees, and Harris Dellas, David Friedman, Thomas Humphrey, Ed Nelson, George Selgin, Stephen Stigler, the late Richard Timberlake, and Michael Ulan. I thank Sarah Patton and the other members of the staff at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives for their assistance. I thank Elisavet Bosdelekidou and Maria Monopoli for research support.

References

REFERENCES

Backhouse, Roger E. 2013. “Review of Ross B. Emmett, ed., The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics, and Mirowski, Philip, Stapleford, Thomas A., and Van Horn, Robert, eds., Building Chicago Economics: New Perspectives on the History of America’s Most Powerful Economics.History of Political Economy 45 (2): 245349.Google Scholar
Bordo, Michael, and Schwartz, Anna. 1979. “Clark Warburton: Pioneer Monetarist.” Journal of Monetary Economics 5 (1): 4365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coase, Ronald. 1998. “Director, Aaron.” In Newman, Peter, ed., The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law. Volume 1. London: Macmillan, pp. 601605.Google Scholar
Davenport, John. 1964. The U.S. Economy. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing.Google Scholar
Dellas, Harris, and Tavlas, George S.. 2021. “The Dog that Didn’t Bark: The Curious Case of Lloyd Mints, Milton Friedman and the Emergence of Monetarism.” History of Political Economy 53 (4): 633672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dimand, Robert W. 2010. “David Laidler’s Contributions to the History of Monetary Economics.” In Leeson, Robert, ed., David Laidler’s Contributions to Economics. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 6084.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Director, Aaron. 1932. Unemployment. Chicago: American Library Association.Google Scholar
Director, Aaron. 1933. The Economics of Technocracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Director, Aaron. 1940. “Does Inflation Change the Economic Effects of War?American Economic Review 30 (1): 351361.Google Scholar
Director, Aaron. 1955a. Memorandum on Monetary Policy to John Davenport, 1. Untitled, July 11. Hoover Institution Library and Archives, Stanford University.Google Scholar
Director, Aaron. 1955b. Memorandum on Monetary Policy to John Davenport, 2. Untitled, July 29. Hoover Institution Library and Archives, Stanford University.Google Scholar
Director, Aaron. 1956. Lecture of Full Employment Policy. June 20. Menlo Park: Institute of Humane Studies.Google Scholar
Director, Aaron. 1967. “Introduction for the Simons Lecture.” Unpublished, May 5. Henry Simons Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Director, Aaron, et al. 1948. “Control of Prices; Regulation of Money Supply to Halt Inflation Advocated.” New York Times, January 11.Google Scholar
Douglas, Paul H. 1927. “The Modern Technique of Mass Production and Its Relation to Wages.” Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science 12 (July): 1742.Google Scholar
Douglas, Paul H. 1934. Letter to Chester C. Maxey, October 29. Paul Douglas Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Douglas, Paul H., and Director, Aaron. 1931. The Problem of Unemployment. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Fisher, Irving, with Brown, Harry G.. 1911. The Purchasing Power of Money. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Federal Reserve Board. 1955. Forty-second Annual Report of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Washington, DC: Federal Reserve Board.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. [1948] 1953. “A Monetary and Fiscal Framework for Economic Stability.” In Friedman, Milton, ed., Essays in Positive Economics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 133156.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. [1951a] 1953. “The Effects of a Full-Employment Policy on Economic Stability: A Formal Analysis.” In Friedman, Milton, ed., Essays in Positive Economics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 117132.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1951b. “Commodity-Reserve Currency.” Journal of Political Economy 59 (3): 203232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1953. “The Case for Flexible Exchange Rates.” In Friedman, Milton, ed., Essays in Positive Economics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 157203.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1954. “Why the American Economy Is Depression Proof.” Nationalekonomiska Föreningens Förhandlingar 3: 5877. Reprinted in Milton Friedman, ed., Dollars and Deficits: Living with America’s Economic Problems. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1968, pp. 72–96.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1956a. “The Quantity Theory of Money: A Restatement.” In Friedman, Milton, ed., Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 321.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1956b. “Monetary Policy, Domestic and International.” Unpublished lecture delivered at Wabash College on June 19. Available at: https://miltonfriedman.hoover.org/internal/media/dispatcher/215143/full. Accessed December 14, 2021.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1960. Program for Monetary Stability. New York: Fordham University Press.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1967. “The Monetary Theory and Policy of Henry Simons.” Journal of Law and Economics 10: 113. Reprinted in Milton Friedman, ed., The Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays. Chicago: Aldine, 1969, pp. 111–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1971. “Comments on the Critics.” Draft, unpublished. Hoover Institution Library and Archives, Stanford University.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1981. Exclusive Interview: Milton Friedman on Reaganomics.” Human Events, 51 (49): 1 and 69.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1992. “Preface.” In Milton Friedman, A Program for Monetary Stability . Fordham: Fordham University Press, pp. viixii.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton. 1996. Letter to David Laidler, October 9. Milton Friedman Papers, Hoover Institution Library and Archives, Stanford University.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton, and Friedman, Rose D.. 1998. Two Lucky People. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Friedman, Milton, and Schwartz, Anna J.. 1963. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hart, Albert G. 1935. “The ‘Chicago Plan’ of Banking Reform.” Review of Economic Studies 2 (February): 104116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayek, Friedrich. 1946. Letter to Aaron Director, July 10. Quoted in Robert Van Horn, “Aaron Director.” In Emmett, Ross B., ed., The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010, p. 267.Google Scholar
Hayek, Friedrich. 1960. The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Howson, Susan. 2005. “Review of Keynes, Chicago, and Friedman.” History of Political Economy 37 (2): 386391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Humphrey, Thomas. 1971. “Role of Non-Chicago Economists in the Evolution of the Quantity Theory in America, 1930–50.” Southern Economic Journal 38 (1): 1218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Harry G. 1971. “The Keynesian Revolution and the Monetarist Counter-Revolution.” American Economic Review 61 (2): 114.Google Scholar
Kitch, Edmund W. 1983. “The Fire of Truth: A Remembrance of Law and Economics at Chicago, 1932–1970.” Journal of Law and Economics 26 (1): 163234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ketchum, Marshall D., and Strunk, Norman, eds. 1964. Proceedings of the Conference on Savings and Residential Financing. May 7 and 8, 1964, Chicago, Illinois. Chicago: United States Savings and Loan League.Google Scholar
Knight, Frank H., et al. 1933. Untitled memoranda, March 15. Frank Knight Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Laidler, David. 1973. “Review of Don Patinkin, ed., Studies in Monetary Economics. Economic Journal 83 (329): 262264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leeson, Robert, ed. 2003. Keynes, Chicago and Friedman. Two volumes. London: Pickering & Chatto.Google Scholar
Lothian, James R., and Tavlas, George S.. 2018. “How Friedman and Schwartz Became Monetarists.” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 50 (4): 757787.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meltzer, Allan H. 2009. A History of the Federal Reserve. Volume 2, Book 1, 1951–1969. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Moggridge, Donald E., and Howson, Susan. 1974. “Keynes on Monetary Policy, 1910–1946.” Oxford Economic Papers 26 (2): 226247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, Edward. 2009. “Milton Friedman and U.K. Economic Policy: 1938–1979.” Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (September): 465506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, Edward. 2013. “Friedman’s Monetary Economics in Practice.” Journal of International Money and Finance 38 (C): 5983.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, Edward. 2020. Milton Friedman and Economic Debate in the United States, 1932–1972. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Patinkin, Don. 1969. “The Chicago Tradition, the Quantity Theory, and Friedman.” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 1 (1): 4670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettengill Memorandum.” 1932. “Payment of Adjusted-Compensation Certificates.” Hearings before the Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, April 11 to 29. Washington, DC: House of Representatives.Google Scholar
Phillips, Ronnie J. 1995. The Chicago Plan and New Deal Banking Reform. New York: M.E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Reder, Melvin W. 1982. “Chicago Economics: Permanence and Change.” Journal of Economic Literature 20 (1): 138.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul A. 1995. Letter to Milton Friedman, December 8. Milton Friedman Papers, Hoover Institution Library and Archives, Stanford University.Google Scholar
Selgin, George. 1999. “Hayek versus Keynes on How the Price Level Ought to Behave.” History of Political Economy 31 (4): 699721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simons, Henry C. 1934. Letter to Paul Douglas. October 2. Henry Simons Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Simons, Henry C. [1936] 1948. “Rules versus Authorities in Monetary Policy.” In Henry Simons, Economic Policy for a Free Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 160–183.Google Scholar
Simons, Henry C. 1939. Letter to Chester Wright. February 20. Henry Simons Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Simons, Henry C., et al. 1933. “Banking and Currency Reform.” Includes Appendix, “Banking and Business Cycles,” and Supplementary Memorandum, “Long-term Objectives of Monetary Management.” Unsigned mimeograph. Department of Economics, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Stigler, Stephen. 2005. “Aaron Director Remembered.” Journal of Law and Economics 48 (2): 307311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavlas, George S. 1997. “Chicago, Harvard, and the Doctrinal Foundations of Monetary Economics.” Journal of Political Economy 105 (1): 153177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavlas, George S. 2015. “In Old Chicago: Simons, Friedman, and the Development of Monetary-Policy Rules.” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 47 (1): 99121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavlas, George S. 2019a. “‘The Group’: The Making of the Chicago Monetary Tradition, 1927–36.” History of Political Economy 51 (2): 259296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavlas, George S. 2019b. “The Intellectual Origins of the Monetarist Counter-Revolution Reconsidered: How Clark Warburton Influenced Milton Friedman’s Monetary Thinking.” Oxford Economic Papers 71 (3): 645665.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavlas, George S. 2021. “A Reconsideration of the Doctrinal Foundations of Monetary-Policy Rules: Fisher versus Chicago.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 43 (1): 5582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavlas, George S. Forthcoming. “On the Controversy Over the Origins of the Chicago Plan for 100 Percent Reserves: Sorry Frederick Soddy, it was Knight and (Most Probably) Simons!” Hoover Institution Economics Working Paper 20102. Forthcoming in Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. Google Scholar
University of Chicago News Office. 2004. “Aaron Director, Founder of the Field of Law and Economics.” Available at: http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/04/040913.director.shtml. Accessed November 23, 2021.Google Scholar
Van Horn, Robert. 2010a. “Aaron Director.” In Emmett, Ross B., ed., The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 265269.Google Scholar
Van Horn, Robert. 2010b. “Harry Aaron Director: The Coming of Age of a Reformer Skeptic (1914–24).” History of Political Economy 42 (4): 601630.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Horn, Robert. 2014. “Henry Simons’s Death.” History of Political Economy 46 (3): 525535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Lawrence H. 1999. “Hayek’s Monetary Theory and Policy: A Critical Reconstruction.” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 31 (1): 109120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Tavlas supplementary material 1

Tavlas supplementary material 1

Download Tavlas supplementary material 1(PDF)
PDF 336.6 KB
Supplementary material: PDF

Tavlas supplementary material 2

Tavlas supplementary material 2

Download Tavlas supplementary material 2(PDF)
PDF 348.9 KB