John Kenneth Galbraith

There are a couple of good articles out on John Kenneth Galbraith, both in the form of reviews of the book John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics (2005) by Richard Parker.

A Mind of His Own by Jeff Madrick New York Review of Books 05/26/05 issue.  The New York Review keeps articles available for several weeks online and then puts them behind subscription.

Sisyphus as Social Democrat by Brad DeLong Foreign Affairs May/June 2005.  (Brad DeLong also runs a highly-regarded blog: Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal.)

Interestingly enough, the two reviews take seemingly opposite view of Galbraith's continuing relevance.  DeLong writes:

If there were justice in the world, John Kenneth Galbraith would rank as the twentieth century's most influential American economist. He has published several books that are among the best analyses of modern U.S. history, played a key role in midcentury policymaking, and advised more presidents and senators than would seem possible in three lifetimes. Yet today, Galbraith's influence on economics is small, and his influence on U.S. politics is receding by the year.

But Madrick argues that Galbraith's work is acquiring a new relevance as the economics profession gives new attention to themes that are important in Galbraith's work, like the need for public goods, the ability of corporations to manipulate markets and even the psychology of happiness.

There also has long been a constant flow of pertinent criticism from in-dependent economists emphasizing the importance of institutions and economic structure that Galbraith always believed were central to economic understanding. Galbraith refused to make simplifying assumptions that lent themselves to economic methods and other quantitative techniques. I do not think this excuses him from the obligation to have supplied empirical support for theories, or to acknowledge the benefits that mathematical modeling might have contributed. But at thesame time, the misuses and abuses of mathematics and physics in economics are also becoming a favorite theme of economics critics.

"Most economic philosophers needed only to be right as regards their own time," Galbraith writes in The Affluent Society. Galbraith's intellectual courage, sensitivity to the abuse of power, understanding of the limits of economic growth, and grasp of the institutions of everyday life will combine to make his body of work relevant well beyond his time. The US would have done well to heed much of his advice, especially his concern for America's failure to supply public goods. Parker suggests his influence has permeated the work of those who followed him, even though many of them may not realize it. That certainly seems true.

I hope the new book and the publicity around it encourages a new interest in Galbraith's own books.  I know I've quoted him here a number of times.  His 1992 book The Culture of Contentment is one of the most perceptive books I've seen, for instance, on the politics of the Bush dynasty (and not only them).  It was published 13 years ago, but it's not out of date.