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On April 10, 1945, the chairman of the University of Chicago’s economics department, Professor Simeon E. Leland, submitted a 77 page (!) memorandum to President Robert M. Hutchins entitled “Postwar Plans of the Department of Economics–A Wide Variety of Observations and Suggestions All Intended To Be Helpful in Improving the State of the University”.
In his cover letter Leland wrote “…in the preparation of the memorandum, I learned much that was new about the past history of the Department. Some of this, incorporated in the memorandum, looks like filler stuck in, but I thought it ought to be included for historical reasons and to furnish some background for a few of the suggestions.”
In recent posts I have provided a list of visiting professors who taught economics at the University of Chicago up through 1944 (excluding those visitors who were to receive permanent appointments) and supporting tables with enrollment trends and faculty data (ages and educational backgrounds).
In this post we have three lists of names for economists who in 1945 could be taken into consideration for either permanent economics, joint appointments with other department or visiting appointments at the University of Chicago. Many names are immediately recognisable, others less so, and other known names left unnamed. Instead of observing the actual choices of the department, we have, so to speak, an observation of the “choice set” as perceived by the department.
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The following list of possible additions to the staff of the Department of Economics represents an enumeration of suggestions made by various members of the Department. It, of course, does not include all of those whom the Department would like to invite as permanent members of the University staff. Many of those whom we would most like to have, it is well-known, are not available; nor can the Department be sure that those listed below would favorably consider an invitation to join our staff. Likewise, this list must not be construed as nominations for membership in the Department. Some members of the staff are known to object to the inclusion of some of the names listed below. But if unanimous consent were required before suggestions could be made, little progress in building a Department would be possible. In its present state, the list is only an enumeration of suggestions warranting further inquiry. The fields of interest of many of the potential candidates overlap and the appointment of some individuals would make it undesirable, or at least uneconomic, to appoint others. Nevertheless, the list does given an idea of some persons who might be considered for future appointments. This list, like any other enumeration, is subject to constant revision, both in the addition or subtraction of names.
|
Name |
Present Location |
Field of Interest or Specialization |
| Abraham (sic) Bergson | University of Texas | Wages and Wage Theory |
| Robert Bryce | Ottawa, Canada | |
| Norman Buchanan | University of California | Public Utilities, Corporation Finance, Business Cycles (also possible interest in United States Economic History) |
| Earl Hamilton | Northwestern University | Economic History |
| Albert G. Hart | C.E.D., Chicago | Theory, Finance, etc. |
| J. R. Hicks | University of Manchester, England | Economic Theory |
| Harold A. Innis | University of Toronto | Economic History |
| Maurice Kelso | University of Wisconsin | Land Economics |
| Tjalling Koopmans | Cowles Commission | Statistics; Mathematical Economics; Business Cycles; Shipping |
| Simon Kuznets | University of Pennsylvania | National Income; Historical Statistics |
| Sanford Mosk | University of California | Economic History |
| Charles A. Myers | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Labor; Industrial Relations |
| Walter Rostow | Columbia University | Economic History (XIX Century) |
| Leonard Salter | University of Wisconsin | Land Economics |
| T. Scitovszky | London School of Economics; U.S. Army | Theory of Capital and Interest; Theory of Tariffs |
| Arthur Smithies | University of Michigan; Bureau of the Budget, Washington, D. C. | Fiscal Policy; Theory; Money and Banking |
| Eugene Staley | School of Advanced International Studies (Washington, D.C.) | International Economics; Foreign Trade |
| George Stigler | University of Minnesota | Theory and Foreign Trade |
| R. H. Tawney | London School of Economics | Economic History |
| Allen Wallis | Stanford University | Statistics |
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Joint Appointments
The Department of Economics shares an interest in many fields with other departments, schools and divisions of the University. It recognizes that most problems of the Social Sciences have economic aspects, and other aspects as well. Many of the fields embraced within particular disciplines are explained by accident or tradition, not always by logic. No one department can, therefore, assert a valid claim for the exclusive staffing of fields of interest held in common with other branches of knowledge. It seems wisest to develop these common grounds through joint appointments. Not only does this enable us to attract to the University more outstanding scholars than the fellowship of one department might provide, but it should also place at the disposition of those interested in promoting joint fields, perhaps, larger resources than either acting alone could command.
Joint appointments, too, will tend to integrate the Social Sciences with the other schools and departments affected, as well as contribute to the unity of the University as a whole. The Department of Economics, therefore, ventures to suggest joint appointments in the following fields:
| Fields | Units Affected |
| Trusts and Monopolies | Business, Law, Economics |
| Railroads and Transportation | Business, Economics |
| Public Utilities | Economics, Political Science, Law |
| Social Control of Business | Business, Law, Political Science, Economics |
| Advanced Applied Mathematics and Statistics | Economics, Mathematics, Business, Institute of Statistics, other departments interested in statistics |
| Urban Planning (or the Utilization of Land) | Geography, Political Science, Economics, Law, Business, Sociology |
| Social Legislation, particularly affecting Labor | Business, Sociology, Social Service Administration, Law, Political Science, Economics |
[…]
Among those who might be proposed for joint appointments are the following:
| Name | Present Location | Field of Interest | Appropriate Appointment |
| Charles L. Dearing | Brookings Institution and U.S. Government | Transportation | Economics, Business |
| Corwin D. Edwards | Northwestern University | Trusts, Monopolies, Control of Business | Political Science, Law, Economics |
| Milton Friedman | Columbia University | Economic Theory, Public Finance, Monetary Policy | Economics, Institute of Statistics |
| Homer Hoyt | Regional Plan Association, Inc., New York, N.Y. | Land Planning | Economic Geography, Political Science |
| David E. Lilienthal | T. V. A. | Public Utilities | Political Science, Law, Economics |
| Abraham Wald | Columbia University | Applied Mathematics, Statistics | Mathematics, Economics |
| Allen Wallis | Columbia University | Applied Mathematics, Statistics | Mathematics, Economics |
| Samuel S. Wilks | Princeton University | Applied Mathematics, Statistics | Mathematics, Economics |
Visiting Professorships
Each department needs to diversify its courses. Too frequently the attempt at diversification is made by adding permanent members to the regular staff. The need can best be met by the appointment of visiting professors.
[…]
A list of some who might be invited to the University as Visiting Professors is as follows:
| Name | Present Location | Fields of Interest |
| John D. Black | Harvard | Agricultural Economics |
| (J.) Roy Blough | U. S. Treasury | Public Finance |
| Kenneth Boulding | Iowa State College | Economic Analysis; Theory of Capital |
| Karl Brandt | Food Institute, Stanford U. | Agricultural Economics |
| Harry G. Brown | University of Missouri | Economic Theory, Public Finance |
| J. Douglas Brown | Princeton University | Industrial Relations |
| Edward H. Chamberlain(sic) | Harvard | Economic Theory; Monopolistic Competition |
| J. M. Clark | Columbia University | Economic theory |
| J. B. Condliffe | California | International Trade; International Commercial Policy |
| Joseph S. Davis | Food Institute, Stanford U. | Agricultural Economics |
| Milton Gilbert | Office of Price Administration, Washington, D.C. | Economic Theory; Price Control |
| T. Haavelmo | Norwegian Shipping Administration, New York, N.Y. | Econometrics |
| Alvin Hansen | Harvard | Economic Theory; Fiscal Policy |
| F. A. Hayek | London School of Economics and Political Science | History of Social Thought; Economic Theory; Monetary Policy |
| J. R. Hicks | University of Manchester | Economic Theory |
| George Jaszy | U. S. Dept. of Commerce | National Income; Business Analysis |
| O. B. Jesness | University of Minnesota | Agricultural Economics |
| Nicholas Kaldor | London School of Economics | Theory of the Firm; Imperfect Competition; Money; Business Cycles |
| M. Kalecki | Institute of Statistics of University of Oxford, England | Economic Fluctuations; Expenditure Rationing |
| M. Slade Kendrick | Cornell University | Public Finance; Farm Taxation |
| Arthur Kent | San Francisco Attorney-at-Law | Taxation |
| J. M. Keynes | Cambridge University | Fiscal and Monetary Policy |
| Simon S. Kuznets | National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Pennsylvania | Statistics; National Income and Its Problem |
| A. P. Lerner | New School for Social Research | Economic Theory; Fiscal Policy; Public Finance |
| Edward S. Mason | Harvard University | Economic Theory; International Trade and Trade Practices |
| Wesley C. Mitchell | Columbia University | Money and Prices |
| Jacob Mosak | Office of Price Administration, Washington, D.C. | Economic Theory; Statistics; Control of Prices |
| R. A. Musgrave | Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D. C. | Public Finance |
| Randolph Paul | Lord, Day and Lord, Attorneys-at-Law | Taxation |
| Paul A. Samuelson | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Economic Theory; Money and Banking; Fiscal Policy |
| Lawrence H. Seltzer | Wayne University | Money and Banking; Public Debts; Fiscal Policy |
| Carl S. Shoup | Columbia University | Public Finance |
| Sumner H. Slichter | Harvard University | Business Economics |
| Richard Stone | England | Statistics; National Income |
| R. H. Tawney | London School of Economics | Economic History |
| Abraham Wald | Columbia University | Mathematics and Statistics |
| John H. Williams | Harvard University | Money and Banking |
In the past, the Department has supplemented its staff by the appointment of visiting professors, but the invitations have ordinarily been restricted to the Summer Quarter in order (1) to relieve the regular staff from summer teaching and (2) to provide “window-dressing” to make the Summer Quarters more attractive to new students. The potentialities of the visiting professorship can hardly be realized when the practice is applied only to the Summer Quarter. That it has made that Quarter more attractive would seem to be indicated by the outstanding economists who have been guests of the University of Chicago.
[…]
The practice of inviting outstanding men to the University of Chicago seems to have been more prevalent in the early years of the University than it is today. Visiting appointments also declined with the strained finances of the University during the late depression. The Department is anxious to develop a program of instruction and research based upon the policy of the regular employment of visitors. A sum, equal to the stipend of a full professor, if used to finance a program of regular visitors, would add greater content and prestige to the Department than could be secured in any other way.
Source: University of Chicago Library, Department of Special Collections. Office of the President. Hutchins Administration Records. Box 73, Folder “Economics Dept., “Post-War Plans” Simeon E. Leland, 1945″.