Introduction - Chapter 1

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, The, Dec, 2002

PAUL SAMUELSON ONCE formulated a list of early prominent American economists born after 1860.1 To the list consisting of W. C. Mitchell, Allyn Young, H. L. Moore, Frank Knight, Jacob Viner and Henry Schlutz he added the name of Harry Gunnison Brown. It is improbable that Brown's name has a familiar ring for contemporary students. It is possible, however, that some student may recall that the library catalog card for Irving Fisher's classic work The Purchasing Power of Money lists Brown as assisting Fisher in this work.

Harry Gunnison Brown was roughly of the second generation of American economists who followed the pioneering generation that included John Bates Clark, E. R. A. Seligman, Frank Taussig, Francis Walker, Simon Patten, Richard Ely, Thomas Nixon Carver, Herbert Davenport and Irving Fisher, among others. Brown studied under and taught with Fisher at Yale until 1915. He and James Harvey Rogers were said to be Fisher's favorite and ablest students. (2) Brown became a monetarist in the tradition of Fisher. Although on several occasions they differed, Brown demonstrated enduring respect for his mentor and colleague.

Another economist, Herbert J. Davenport, was held in particular regard by Brown. He joined Davenport at the University of Missouri for a year before Davenport left for Cornell. Davenport's work in refining and, at times, defending classical economic doctrine was admired by Brown. The discipline at that time struggled with the question of how much of the classical thought of the British School was to be retained as sound. Brown's position in this regard was exemplified by his self-description as "an economist unemancipated from the classical tradition." He implied by this statement that other economists had gone too far in their rejection of classical doctrine. Brown, who had read J. S. Mill before entering college, would in some respects retain strong elements of the classical approach in his writing. (3)

An element in Brown's thought that would make him stand out among academic economists was his staunch belief in and advocacy of the ideas of Henry George. In particular, Brown would argue throughout his life for tax reform along the lines espoused by George when the profession tended to dismiss George's thought as utterly fallacious. Most prominent among Brown's areas of specialization was that of taxation and especially, tax incidence. His text, The Economics of Taxation, stood for a time as a benchmark for texts on the subject of tax incidence.

In his chosen profession, Brown's record was exemplary during five decades of teaching at Yale, Missouri, The New School of Social Research, Mississippi and Franklin and Marshall. He wrote more than 100 articles and 10 books. He was said to be for many years the dominant influence behind Missouri's School of Business and Public Administration. (4) His dedication to teaching has been praised by his students, many of whom were to become prominent in economics and related areas.

Brown's Work

ALTHOUGH BROWN's CONCERNS WERE DIFFUSE, I would like to emphasize three characteristics of his work: its "modernity"; its classical roots; its emphasis on welfare considerations. Through Fisher's influence, Brown was aware of developments that anticipated the direction of economics as a field of study. He displayed, if not mathematical rigor, a dedication to a clear, logical approach to economic theory as well as an appreciation of the value of statistical application to the testing of economic theories. Harold Hotelling once commented that Brown's logic was mathematical in nature. (5) On the other hand, although Brown was by definition a neoclassical economist, he tended to retain key elements of the classical approach, as seen in his selective use of Davenport's work, in his rejection of the claims of the Psychological School of Frank Fetter and in his later objections to Keynesian economics. Characteristic of Brown's work was a consistent attempt to relate economic questions to what he termed the "common w elfare."

That he found inspiration in the writings of Henry George was not unusual. Brown's steadfastness in his espousal of George's proposed reform in the face of the hostility, skepticism and indifference of the profession was unusual.

As is frequently commented upon, the advance and profusion of a discipline in many regards tend to foster the "bureaucratic" phenomenon of "constructive forgetting."

Although certainly not without merit, this process stands subject to Santayana's famous dictum. (6) Arnold Harberger made this point in the following manner:

Brown was one of a small group of economists of his era (which included Frank Knight, Irving Fisher, A. C. Pigou) who really carried the science forward by large steps. For decades, their work was neglected as the profession pursued one fad after another, but now, as economists have returned, more or less, to their mainstream, they are seeing once again the brilliance and insight of people like H. G. Brown. (7)

Milton Friedman and Kenneth Boulding have commented that they felt that Brown's work has been overlooked. (8) Thus, my proposition is to examine his work with an even treatment of his efforts, always trying to place them in the proper historical context and to render evaluatory comments where relevant.