The sequence I followed for preparing this post was that I first decided to transcribe the outline and readings for a course dealing with economic development (Economics 108) taught at Harvard in the spring term, 1956. To figure out who the instructor was, I then turned to the annual report of the president of Harvard College that provides enrollment figures as well as names of course instructors. Once I found the last name of the instructor “Baldwin”, I looked to see if perhaps there was a recent Harvard economics Ph.D. with that name since the course had been taught by an assistant professor. Bingo, Robert Edward Baldwin, a rising star in international economics at the time appeared indeed to be our man. I confirmed that he was on the faculty of Harvard at the time from his ca. 1997 c.v. at the NBER. Finally my search of the internet pulled up the Robert E. Baldwin’s obituary that I have copied and pasted as the last item below.
The post would not be complete without links to his offspring who have gone off on their own economics careers (Jean Grossman in Princeton and Richard Baldwin in Geneva).
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Course Enrollment
[Economics] 108. Theories and Problems of Economic Development. Assistant Professor Baldwin. Half course. [Spring]
Total 42: 13 Graduates, 13 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 4 Radcliffe, 1 Special
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1955-1956, p. 76.
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Course Outline and Readings
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Spring Term, 1955-1956
Economics 108
- Theories of Economic Development
- Smith and Ricardo
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book I, chs. 1-9; Book II, ch. 3.
David Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, chs. 2-6, 21.
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- Marx
Karl Marx, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Preface.
M. M. Bober, Karl Marx’s Interpretation of History, chs. 1-3
OR
H. B. MAYO, Democracy and Marxism, chs. 2,3.
M. M. Bober, op. cit., chs. 9-13
OR
Joan Robinson, An Essay on Marxian Economics.
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- The Neo-Classical System
Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics, chs. 11-13.
Knut Wicksell, Lectures on Political Economy, Vol. 1, Part III.
Gustav Cassel, The Theory of Social Economy, ch. 1, Sections 4-6.
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- Schumpeter
J. A. Schumpeter, Business Cycles, Vol. 1, chs. 3, 4.
J. A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Part II, chs. 11-14.
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- The Stagnationists and the Post-Keynesian Growth Theorists
Alvin Hansen, “Economic Progress and Declining Population Growth,” American Economic Review, March 1939.
J. A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, ch. 10.
Evsey Domar, “Expansion and Employment,” American Economic Review, March 1947.
W. J. Baumol, Economic Dynamics, ch. 4.
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- A Survey of other Socio-Economic Theories
J. J. Spengler, “Theories of Socio-Economic Growth,” Problems in the Study of Economic Growth, National Bureau of Economic Research.
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- A Comparison of Development Theories
- Accelerating Development in Poor Countries
- Basic Characteristics of Poor Countries
- Obstacles to Development
- General Requirements of Development
- Domestic and International Policy Issues
Required Reading
Buchanan and Ellis, Approaches to Economic Development, Part I and Part III.
W. Arthur Lewis, The Theory of Economic Growth, chs. 3-7
Suggested Reading
Baran, P., “On the Political Economy of Backwardness,” The Manchester School, January 1952.
Duesenberry, J., “Some Aspects of the Theory of Economic Development,” Explorations in Entrepreneurial History, December 1950.
M. Fleming, “External Economics and Doctrine of Balanced Growth,” Economic Journal, June 1955.
Frankel, S. H., The Economic Impact on Underdeveloped Societies, ch. 2.
Hoselitz, B. F., “Social Structure and Economic Growth,” Economia Internazionale, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1953.
Lewis, W. A., “Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour,” The Manchester School, May 1954.
E. S. Mason, Promoting Economic Development, chs. 2, 3.
Meier, G. M., “The Problem of Limited Economic Development,” Economia Internazionale, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1953.
Mikesell, R.F., “Economic Doctrines Reflected in U.N. Reports,” American Economic Review, Proceedings, May 1954.
Myint, H., “An Interpretation of Economic Backwardness,” Oxford Economic Papers, June 1954.
Nurkse, R., Problems of Capital Formation in Underdeveloped Countries
Singer, H., “The Distribution of Gains Between Investing and Borrowing Countries,” American Economic Review, Proceedings, May 1950.
Spengler, J. J., “Population Obstacles to Economic Betterment,” American Economic Review, Proceedings, May 1951.
Sweezy, P., “Duesenberry on Economic Development.” Explorations in Entrepreneurial History, Volume 3, February 1951.
United Nations Department of Economic Affairs, Measures for the Economic Development of Under-Developed Countries
Viner, J., International Trade and Economic Development, Ch. 3
- Maintaining Development in Rich Countries—the U.S. as an Illustration
- Continued Economic Growth as a Goal of U.S. Economic Policy
- The Changing Structure of the American Economy
- The Institutionalization of Economic Growth
- Possible Barriers to Continued Growth
Economic Report of the President, January 1956.
Galbraith, J. K., American Capitalism, ch. 1, 4-10
Hansen, A., “Growth or Stagnation in the American Economy,” Review of Economics and Statistics, November 1954.
Kaysen, C., “Looking Around—Book About Competition,” Harvard Business Review, May-June 1954.
Kuznets, S., Economic Change, chs. 9, 10.
Schumpeter, J. A., Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Part II, chs. 28.
Slichter, S., The American Economy
Wright, D. M., Democracy and Progress, chs. 5-7, 12.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 6, Folder “Economics, 1955-1956 (1 of 2)”.
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Mid-year and Course Final examinations
Posted here.
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Harvard Economics Ph.D. 1950
Robert Edward Baldwin, A.B. (Univ. of Buffalo) 1945, A.M. (Harvard Univ.) 1949.
Subject, Economics. Special Field, International Trade.
Thesis, “The Economics of Internal Migration in the United States, 1870-1940.”
Source:Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1949-50, p. 195.
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Robert E. Baldwin
Education and Positions
1945: A.B., University of Buffalo
1945-46: Instructor, University of Buffalo
1950: Ph.D., Harvard University
1950-52: Instructor, Harvard University
1952-57: Assistant Professor, Harvard University
1957-62: Associate Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
1962-64: Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
1964-present: Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1975-78: Chairman, Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin
1974-: F.W. Taussig Research Professor, University of Wisconsin
1960-61: Ford Foundation Foreign Area Training Fellowship, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
1963-64: Chief Economist, Office of Special Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President, Washington, D.C.
1967-68: Research Professor, The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.
1969-70: Ford Faculty Research Fellowship
1974-75: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor, Washington, D.C., Research Contract
1975 (Summer): United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Geneva, Switzerland, Consultant
1978-79: Consultant, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
1982-: Hilldale Professorship, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1982-: Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research
1986-1989: Chair, Social Systems Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1988 (Summer): Shelby Cullom and Katheryn Davis Visiting Professor, The Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva
1994-: Research Associate, Centre for Economic Policy Research
1995-: Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Science
Source: Robert Baldwin’s NBER c.v. that also included a list of publications to date (ca. 1997).
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Robert Edward Baldwin (1924-2011)
Obituary
Robert Edward Baldwin, born in Buffalo New York on July 17, 1924, died in Madison on April 7, 2011. He was Hilldale Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A lifelong academic, Baldwin was one of the world’s most influential thinkers on international trade, an adviser to governments and international organizations, and an inspiring teacher much beloved by generations of students who carry forward his light as renowned scholars in their own right.
Graduating from the University of Buffalo, he enrolled in the Harvard and received his doctorate in 1950. In Cambridge, he married his lifelong soul mate, Janice Murphy, mother of his four children, two of whom were born while he was an Assistant Professor at Harvard. During this time, he published his best-known theoretical contribution – the “Baldwin Envelope” [“Equilibrium in International Trade: A Diagrammatic Analysis,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 62(5), (November, 1948), pp. 748-762.] – which has been taught widely for six decades and remains part of trade economists’ training even today. After Harvard, he moved to UCLA as an Associate Professor where his third and fourth children were born.
In 1960, he took the whole family for a year to Salisbury Rhodesia (now Harare Zimbabwe) while he worked on his theory of trade and development (published as the book “Economic Development and Export Growth: A Study of Northern Rhodesia, 1920-1960”). Soon after returning to UCLA, President Kennedy appointed him as Chief Economist of the newly formed Office of the Special Trade Representative. The family moved to Washington while he worked in the White House helping the US prepare for the GATT trade negotiations known as the Kennedy Round.
After his White House stint, he was appointed professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a position that he held till his death (Emeritus since 1997). He was appointed Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995, the same year he was elected President of the Midwest Economics Association.
Baldwin was author or editor of 22 books (last one in December 2008) and over a hundred academic articles (the last one in December 2010). [list through ca 1997] His early contributions were mostly to mathematical trade theory, but he also made important contributions to the profession’s empirical understanding of global trade patterns. After his time in the Kennedy White House, he wrote several books and many articles on trade policy and trade politics. Throughout his professional life, his interest in trade was interwoven with an interest in and research on developing nations, with a special emphasis on the development-inhibiting effects of tropical diseases.
In addition to his academic positions, Baldwin engaged actively in the policy world. He was on the External Advisory Panel to the General-Secretary of the WTO (2001-03), and in that capacity attended the Ministerial Meeting in Doha Qatar that launched the WTO’s ongoing trade negotiations. He often testified before US Senate and House Committees on trade matters, and spent time at the US Department of Labour, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Geneva), and the World Bank (Washington). In an effort to improve US trade statistics, he chaired the National Academy of Science’s Panel on Foreign Trade Statistics (1991-92). In his role as policy advisor, he was a member of the Council of Foreign Relations (1968-2011), the US Chamber of Commerce’s Committee for Economic Development and the Atlantic Council (1960s and 1970s), and more recently, the International Advisory Board for Ukraine’s Economics Education and Research Consortium (1999-2009).
He is survived by his wife Janice, his daughters Jean and Nancy, and his son Richard as well as grandchildren Shari, Dina, Leila, Elise, Robert, Ellen, Julia, and Nicky. He was predeceased by his oldest son, Robert, in 2007.
Baldwin was also an “academic father” to scores of students, inspiring them with his quiet but deeply held passion for combining academic rigor with real-world applicability. Many of his students have become professors in Universities across the world. His vocation is also carried on by his son Richard, and son-in-law Gene Grossman, both of whom are professors of economics specialising in international trade.
Source: Obituary for Robert E. Baldwin posted by the Cress Funeral Home, Madison, Wisconsin.
Image Source: Selection from photograph (ca. 1975) of Robert E. Baldwin from the University of Wisconsin Archives/The University of Wisconsin Collection/The UW-Madison Collection/UW-Madison Archives Images.
