|
Items in cart [0] |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
| ||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2010. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 340
OCR for page 341
GEORGE JOSEPH STIGLER
January I7, 9-December I, 199'
BY MILTON FRIEDMAN
I CANNOT PRETEND TO obj activity in writing about George
Stigler. For nearly sixty years he was either my closest
frienc! or one of my closest friends. My debt to him, both
personal en c! professional, is beyonc! measure. Despite creep
laciness at his cleath, like so many others who knew him, I
cannot think of him without an inadvertent smile rising to
my lips. He was as quick of wit as of mincI, en c! his wit
always hac! a point. His occasional humorous articles such
as "A Sketch of the History of Truth in Teaching" (Stigler,
1973) have become classics en c! demonstrate that hac! he,
like an earlier Chicago Ph.D. in economics, Stephen Leacock,
chosen to become a professional humorist as well as an
economist, he wouIc! have achiever! no less fame in the one
field! than in the other.
George Stigler was one of the great economists of the
twentieth or any other century, with a gift for writing
matcher! among moclern economists only by John Maynarc!
Keynes. Intellectual history was his first field! of specializa-
tion. It remained! a lasting love en c! proviclec! a rich seecI-
bec! for his scientific work. A creep unclerstancling of the
icleas of the great economists of the past gave him a strong
foundation on which to built! an analysis of contemporary
341
OCR for page 342
342
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
issues. Few economists have so consistently en c! successfully
combiner! economic theory with empirical analysis, or ranger!
so wiclely. Stigler regarclec! economic theory, in the words
of Alfrec! Marshall, as "an engine for the discovery of con
crete truth," not as a subject of interest in its own right, a
branch of mathematics.
PERSONAL HISTORY
George Stigler was born January 17, 1911, in Renton,
Washington, a suburb of Seattle. He was the only chiTc! of
Joseph and Elizabeth Hungler Stigler, who had separately
migrates! to the Uniter! States at the enc! of the nineteenth
century, his father from Bavaria, his mother from what was
then Austria-Hungary. George writes that his "father hac!
been a brewer until prohibition cirove that activity uncler-
ground. Thereafter, he tried a variety of jobs," finally enter-
ing the real estate market. "My parents bought rundown
places, fixer! them up, en c! soil! them. By the time I was
sixteen, I hac! liver! in sixteen different places in Seattle.
But my parents hac! a comfortable if nomadic existence"
(Stigler, 1 98S, pp. 9-10~ .
George went to public schools en c! then to the University
of Washington, all in Seattle, receiving a B.A. in 1931. "An
insatiable en c! utterly indiscriminate reacler," he "got lots of
good grades" at the University of Washington. He said that,
when he gracluatec! from college, he hac! "no thought of an
academic career", it was the depression en c! jobs in busi-
ness were scarce, so he applier! for en c! was awarclec! a fel-
lowship at Northwestern University for graduate stucly in
the business school, receiving an M.B.A. in 1932 (Stigler,
198S, p. 15~. At Northwestern he developed an interest in
economics en c! cleciclec! on an academic career. He returnee!
to the University of Washington for one further year of
graduate study, en c! then receiver! a tuition scholarship to
OCR for page 343
G E O R G E J O S E P H S T I G L E R
343
stucly economics at the University of Chicago. There he
fount! an intense intellectual atmosphere that captivates!
him. Chicago became his intellectual home for the rest of
his life, as a student from 1933 to 1936, a faculty member
from 1958 to his cleath in 1991, en c! a leacling member of
en c! contributor to the "Chicago School" throughout. He
receiver! his Ph.D. in 1938.
At Chicago, Stigler was particularly influenced by Frank
H. Knight, uncler whom he wrote his dissertation a note-
worthy feat, since only three or four students ever managect
to complete a dissertation uncler Knight in his twentv-ei~ht
· ~ . ~ ~
1 0 J O
years on the Chicago faculty. Stimulating en c! influential in
both economic analysis en c! social philosophy, Knight was a
perfectionist en c! tenclec! to inhibit students who came un-
cler his influence. It is a mark of Stigler's character en c!
drive that he never succumbec! to that aspect of Knight's
influence, rather, he imbiber! what he clescribec! as Knight's
"devotion to the pursuit of knowlecige . . . ~ f ~
served commitment to 'truth"' (Stigler, ~ 98S, pp. ~ 7-! 8) .
The other faculty members whose influence George stresses!
were Jacob Viner' who taught economic theory en c! inter-
national economics, John U. Nef, economic historian, en c!
their younger colleague Henry Simons, who became a close
personal frienc! en c! whose A Positive Program for Laissez Faire
greatly influencer! Stinter en c! many of his contemporaries.
~.. . . . . .
~ In He at ~ ~ n up_
lo
--o-
"At least as important to me," wrote George, "as the fac-
ulty were the remarkable students I met at Chicago," en c!
he goes on to list W. Allen Wallis, the author of this mem-
oir, Kenneth BouIcling en c! Robert Shone from Great Brit-
ain, Sune CarIson from Swollen, Paul Samuelson, en c! Albert
G. Hart all of whom subsequently hac! clistinguishec! ca-
rears ( Stigler, 1 98S, pp. 23-25 ) .
I overIappec! George at Chicago for one year, 1934-35,
cluring which he, W. Allen Wallis, en c! I former! what prover!
OCR for page 344
344
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
to be a lifelong friendship. As it happened, all three of our
future spouses were also students at Chicago. George was to
marry Margaret Mack, always known as Chick, who was ma-
joring in social science. Allen wouic! marry Anne Armstrong,
an art history major, en c! I marries! Rose Director, whose
major was economics. We soon former! a sextuple whose
lives were intertwinec! from then on.
In 1936 George acceptec! an appointment as an assistant
professor at Iowa State College (now University), and shortly
thereafter was marries! to Margaret "Chick" Mack. George
en c! Chick hac! three sons: Stephen, a professor of statistics
at the University of Chicago, David, a corporate lawyer, en c!
Joseph, a businessman. The family sufferer! a tragic Toss in
1970, when Chick flier! unexpectecIly, without any advance
warning. George never remarried.
George acceptec! an appointment at the University of Min-
nesota in 1938 en c! then went on leave in 1942 to work first
at the National Bureau of Economic Research en c! later at
the Statistical Research Group of Columbia University, a
group directed by Allen Wallis that was engaged in war
research on behalf of the armec! services. When the war
antler! in 1945, George returnee! to the University of Min
nesota, but he remainec! only one year, leaving in 1946 to
accept a professorship at Brown University. That simple state-
ment conceals a traumatic experience. In George's worcis:
"In the spring of 1946 I receiver! the offer of a professor-
ship from the University of Chicago and, of course, was
clelightec! at the prospect. The offer was contingent upon
approval by the central administration after a personal in-
terview. I went to Chicago, met with the president, Ernest
Colwell because Robert Hutchins was ill that clay en c! I
was vetoed! I was too empirical, Colwell saicI, en c! no doubt
that clay I was. So the professorship was offerer! to Milton
Friedman, and President Colwell and I had launched the
OCR for page 345
G E O R G E J O S E P H S T I G L E R
345
Chicago School" (Stigler, 1988, p. 40). It speaks volumes
for George's character that the incident never cast the slight-
est shallow on our friendship.
In 1946 George en c! I were two of the thirty-six partici-
pants at a conference in Switzerlanc! convener! by Friecirich
A. Hayck to discuss the ciangers to a free society. The Mont
Pelerin Society was founclec! at that conference en c! has
since grown en c! flourished, providing a forum for mem-
bers from all over the worlc! to discuss the issues involves! in
achieving en c! maintaining political en c! economic freedom.
An active member of the society until his cleath, George
servec! as its president from 1976 to 1978.
After a year at Brown, George mover! to Columbia, where
he remainec! until 1958, despite several attempts by Theodore
Schultz, chairman of the Chicago Department of Econom-
ics, to bring him to Chicago. In 1958 Allen Wallis, then
clean of the University of Chicago business school, persuaclec!
him to accept the Charles R. Walgreen professorship of
American institutions. George remainec! at Chicago for the
rest of his life. At Chicago he became an editor of the
Journal of Political Economy; established the Industrial Orga-
nization Workshop, which achiever! recognition as the key
testing grounc! for contributions to the fielc! of industrial
organization, en c! in 1977 founclec! the Center for the Stucly
of the Economy en c! the State, serving as its director until
his cleath.
In the academic year 1957-58, George was a fellow at the
Center for Advance c! Stucly in the Behavioral Sciences at
Stanford. From 1971 to his cleath, George was a fellow at
the Hoover Institution at Stanford, en c! spent part of al-
most every year at Hoover.
George was president of the American Economic Associa-
tion in 1964, en c! of the History of Economics Society in
1977. He was electec! to the National Academy of Sciences
OCR for page 346
346
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
in 1975. He receiver! the Alfrec! Nobel Memorial Prize in
Economic Science in 1982 "for his seminal studies of inclus-
trial structures, functioning of markets en c! causes en c! ef-
fects of public regulation." He receiver! the National Mecial
of Science from Ronalc! Reagan in 1987.
George's governmental activities incluclec! service as a
member of the attorney generaT's National Committee to
Stucly the Antitrust Laws, 1954-55, chairman, Fecleral Price
Statistics Review Committee, 1960-61, member, Blue Rib-
bon Pane! of the Department of Defense, ~ 969-70, vice-
chairman, Securities Investor Protection Corporation, 1970-
73, co-chairman, Blue Ribbon Telecommunications Task
Force, Illinois Commerce Commission, 1990-91.
A wore! about George as a person: In the nearly six cle-
cacles of our friendship, I never knew him to clo a mean or
hurtful or unworthy thing to anyone. An icleal frienc! in
time of trouble, he wouIc! go to any lengths to be helpful.
He always appearec! casual en c! unhurried, seeming to
have ample time for golf (his favorite sport), tennis, bridge,
carpentry, photography (his favorite hobby), casual talk with
friends, consultations with students, en c! constructive en c!
cletailec! criticisms of the writings of his students en c! aca-
clemic friends. Yet, he also was increclibly productive, turn-
ing out a steady stream of fundamental contributions. Truly,
as his son Stephen sail! at a memorial service, "My father
hac! phenomenal energy."
One feature of George's personality that he clic! his best
to conceal was his extreme personal sensitivity. His smart
cracks were in part a way of covering that sensitivity, as was
his half-embarrassec! laugh. He was as sensitive to others as
to himself. The stiletto concealer! in his humor was always
meant for ideas or policies, never ad hominem unless "An
Economist Plays with Blocs" ( 1 954), his brilliant title for an
OCR for page 347
G E O R G E J O S E P H S T I G L E R
347
article on Galbraith's theory of countervailing power, can
be so interpreted.
George was a clelightful correspondent. Serious en c! pro-
founc! discussion never came without an interiarcling of
amusing comments. In a letter from London in 1948 when
he was giving Five Lectures on Economic Problems ~ ~ 949), after
remarking on the inconvertibility of the pounc! en c! the
ineclible, still-rationec! foocI, he concluclecI, "So here I am
losing weight and gaining pounds."
George was an extremely valuable colleague. He proviclec!
much of the energy en c! drive to the interaction among
members of the Chicago economics department, business
school, en c! law school that came to be known at the Chi-
cago School. His workshop on inclustrial organization was
an outgrowth of a law school seminar starter! by Aaron Di-
rector, which George cooperatec! in running when he came
to Chicago. His relations were especially close with Aaron,
Gary Becker, Richarc! Posner, HaroIc! Demsetz, en c! myself,
enhancing significantly the scientific productivity of all of
us.
HISTORY OF THOUGHT
STIGLER AS SCIENTIST
Stigler's cloctoral dissertation, publisher! as Production and
Distribution Theories (1941), was a historical survey of neo-
cIassical theories that remains the definitive study of its sub-
ject. That book was follower! by a stoutly flow of perceptive,
thoughtful, en c! beautifully written articles en c! books inter-
preting the contributions of his predecessors, some of which
were collected! in Essays in the History of Economics (1965~.
Throughout, Stigler's interest was in "the essential struc-
ture of the . . . analytical system" of the authors whose work
he examined (Stigler, ~ 969, p. 220~ . In judging that analyti
OCR for page 348
348
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Cal system, he placer! great stress on its implications for
observable phenomena. "Surprising as it may souncI, no
previous scholar hac! ever examiner! the clevelopment of
the cliscipline with anything
intellectual progress hac! to be measurer! in terms of its
ability to generate empirically refutable propositions"
(Rosenberg, 1993, p. 836~. Stigler tried not only to identify
such propositions but to put them to the test, often with
ciata that wouIc! have been available to the author whose
~ bite the same insistence that
work he was examining.
During most of Stigler's professional career, the history
of economic thought was in the cloIcirums as a field! of stucly.
His writing played a major role in keeping the field alive
en c! enhancing its attractiveness. By the enc! of his career,
the field! was flourishing, thanks in part to the example he
set en c! to the new directions for research that he pioneered.
PRICE THEORY
George's first important publication after his cloctoral thesis
was a textbook, The Theory of Competitive Price (1942), which
was follower! by reviser! versions uncler the title The Theory
of Price in ~ 946, ~ 952, ~ 966, en c! ~ 987. Its systematic linking
of highly abstract theory to observable phenomena is unique
among intermediate textbooks in price theory, as is its con-
cise yet rigorous exposition. That feature, according to Tho-
mas Sowell, one of his students, "made it probably the least
reaciable thing Stigler ever wrote. It was not a matter of
convoluter! writing or confused thought Stifler was never
· . . ~· . . ~. .
--a-- - - --a- - - ---- -- - -
gUllty ot eltner ot tnese common academic sins but of
excessive condensation that required painstakingly slow pon-
clering over every concentrates! thought. If the book hac!
been three times as Tong, it could have been read in half
the time. Still, it remainec! something of a classic, though
Stigler himself made many a wry joke about its supposedly
OCR for page 349
G E O R G E J O S E P H S T I G L E R
349
meager sales. It was the kinc! of book that teachers of price
theory courses react themselves, while they assignee! some
other text to the class" (Sowell, 1993, pp. 785-86~.
The linkage of fact en c! theory in his textbook foreshacI-
owoc! his subsequent scientific work. His many contribu-
tions to economic theory were all a byproduct of seeking to
unclerstanc! the real woricI, en c! nearly all lee! to an attempt
to provicle some quantitative evidence to test the theory or
to provide empirical counterparts to theoretical concepts.
An early example of the latter is an article on "The Cost
of Subsistence" (1945), which starts, "Elaborate investiga-
tions have been macle of the acloquacy of cliets at various
income levels, en c! a consiclerable number of 'low-cost,' 'mocI-
erate,' en c! 'expensive' cliets have been recommenclec! to
consumers. Yet, so far as I know, no one has cleterminec!
the minimum cost of obtaining the amounts of calories,
proteins, minerals, en c! vitamins which these studies accept
as acloquate or optimum." George then set himself to cleter-
mine the minimum cost cliet, in the process producing one
of the earliest formulations of a linear programming prob-
lem in economics, for which he fount! an approximate so-
lution, explaining that "there cloes not appear to be any
direct methoc! of fincling the minimum of a linear function
subject to linear constraints." Two years later George Dantzig
proviclec! such a direct method, the simplex method, now
wiclely user! in many economic en c! inclustrial applications.
George's approximate solution very close to the best
possible one cost very little, far less than the stanciarc! Tow-
cost acloquate cliet, demonstrating that those cliets conic!
not be clefenclec! as "scientific" but reflected! mainly allow-
ance for taste en c! variety rather than simply for nutritive
acloquacy. The estimatec! cost of such low-cost cliets has sub-
sequently become the basis for the wiclely user! poverty lev
OCR for page 350
350
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
els of income, assuring the continues! significance of this
finding.
History of thought apart, George's impact was greatest
en c! most lasting in the three fielcis that were singlet! out in
the Nobel citation, those he labeler! the economics of in-
formation, the theory of economic regulation, en c! the or-
ganization of industry.
"The Economics of Information" is the title of a seminal
article (Stigler, 1961) that gave birth to an essentially new
area of stucly for economists. In his intellectual autobiogra-
phy, George termec! it, "My most important contribution to
economic theory" (Stigler, 198S, pp. 79-80~. The article be-
gins, "One shouic! hardily have to tell academicians that
information is a valuable resource: knowlecige is power. An c!
yet it occupies a slum dwelling in the town of economics.
Mostly it is ignored." Stigler then proceeclec! to illustrate
the importance of subjecting information to economic analysis
with two examples: the dispersion of prices en c! the role of
advertising (Stigler, 1961, pp. 213-25~.
This article is a splendid illustration of several of Stigler's
signal virtues: creativity (which he defined as consisting "of
looking at familiar things or icleas in a new way"), the ca-
pacity to extract new insights about those seemingly famil-
iar things, en c! the ability to state his main points in a pro-
vocative en c! eminently reaciable way.
As he wrote in his Nobel memorial lecture
The proposal to study the economics of information was promptly
and widely accepted. Within a decade and a half, the literature had be-
come so extensive and the theorists working in the field so prominent, that
the subject was given a separate classification in the Index of Economic Ar-
ticles, and more than a hundred articles a year are now devoted to the
subject.
The absence of controversy was certainly no tribute to the definitive-
ness of my exposition.
. The absence of controversy was due instead to
OCR for page 351
G E O R G E J O S E P H S T I G L E R
351
the fact that no established scientific theory was being challenged by this
work; in fact, all I was challenging was the neglect of a promising subject
(Stigler, 1983, p. 539~.
The historian of economic thought practicing his craft on
himself.
ECONOMIC REGULATION
Starting from the traclitional view that government regu-
lation was instituter! for the protection of the public, Stigler
was struck by the absence of any quantitative studies of the
actual effect of regulation. His first effort to remecly this
was clirectec! at the regulation of the prices of public utili-
ties. The result was a 1962 article written jointly with Claire
FriecIlancI, his Tong-time associate, entitles! "What Can Regu-
lators Regulate? The Case of Electricity," which concluclec!
that regulation of electric utilities hac! proclucec! no signifi-
cant effect on rates charged. This was follower! two years
later by "Public Regulation of the Securities Market," which
concluclec! that purchasers of new stock issues fares! no bet-
ter (or worse) after the creation of the Securities en c! Ex-
change Commission than before.) These articles, like "The
Economics of Information," opener! a floodgate of empiri-
cal studies of the effects of economic regulation. Econo-
mists conic! no longer simply take it for grantee! that the
effects of regulation corresponclec! to the states! intentions.2
These essays "also poser! a basic problem: If regulation
floes not generally achieve its states! objectives, why have so
many agencies been establisher! en c! kept in existence?"
(SchmaTensee, ~ 987, p. 499) . "The Theory of Economic
Regulation" (Stigler, 1971) presents Stigler's answer to that
question. The "central thesis of the article," Stigler wrote,
"is that, as a rule, regulation is acquirer! by the industry
en c! is clesignec! en c! operates! primarily for its benefit." He
notes that two "alternative views of the regulation of inclus
OCR for page 352
352
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
try are widely held. The first is that regulation is instituted
primarily for the protection and benefit of the public at
large or some large subdivision of the public . . . The sec-
ond view is essentially that the political process defies ratio-
nal explanation." He then gives example after example to
support his own thesis, which by now has become the or-
thodox view in the profession, concluding, "The idealistic
view of public regulation is deeply imbedded in professional
economic thought . . . The fundamental vice of such a
Eview] is that it misdirects attention" to preaching to the
regulators rather than chancing their incentives.
Stigler's analysis fed the emerging field that has since
come to be called "public choice" economics: the shift from
viewing the political market as not susceptible to economic
analysis, as one in which disinterested politicians and bu-
reaucrats pursue the "public interest," to viewing it as one
in which the participants are seeking, as in the economic
market, to pursue their own interest, and hence subjectto
analysis with the usual tools of economics. The seminal work
that deserves much of the credit for launching public choice,
The Catcutus of Consent, by lames Buchanan and Gordon
O O
Tullock, appeared in the same year as the Stigler-Friedland
article.
"Smith's Travels on the Ship of State," published in the
same year as "The Theory of Economic Regulation," raises
the same question on a broader scale. Smith gives self-inter-
est pride of place in analyzing the economic market, but he
does not give it the same role in analyzing the political
market. Smith's failure to do so constitutes Stigler's main-
indeed, nearly only criticism of the Wealth of Nations, that
"stupendous palace erected upon the granite of self inter-
est" (Rosenberg, 1993, p. 835~. The same theme pervades
many of Stigler's later publications.
The Organization of Industry (1968) is the title of a book
OCR for page 353
G E O R G E J O S E P H S T I G L E R
353
whose "main content," as Stigler says in the preface, "is a
reprinting of 17 articles I have written over the past two
clecacles kinclucling "Economics of Information"] in the area
of inclustrial organization . . . Although the main topics in
inclustrial organization are toucher! upon, the touch is of-
ten light. The ratio of hypotheses to reasonably persuasive
confirmation is clistressingly high in all of economic litera-
ture, en c! it must be my chief en c! meager defense that I am
not the worst sinner in the congregation." Stigler's main
contribution to the fielcI, both in this book en c! later writ-
ing, was the use of empirical evidence to test hypotheses
clesignec! to explain features of inclustrial organization. Ar-
ticle after article combines subtle theoretical analysis with
substantial nuggets of empirical evidence, presented so ca-
sually as to conceal the care with which the ciata were com-
pilec! en c! the effort that was expenclec! to determine what
ciata were both relevant en c! accessible. These articles recorc!
the shift in Stigler's views on antitrust from initial support
of an activist antitrust policy to skepticism about even a
minimalist policy that lee! up to his path-breaking article
on "The Theory of Economic Regulation" (Stigler, 1971~.
Two other facets of Stigler's contributions deserve men-
tion. First, his essays written for the general public, col-
lectec! in three volumes, The Intellectuals and the Marketplace
(1963), The Citizen and the State (1975), en c! The Economist as
Preacher ~ 982). "There he Ethe intelligent layman] will fins!
a potpourri of wit en c! seriousness blenclec! with a high writ-
ing style" (Demsetz, 1982, p. 656~. Second, his role as ecli-
tor en c! reviewer. "For 19 years Stigler was a very successful
editor of the Journal of Political Economy. Uncler his leacler-
ship this journal soliclifiec! its high reputation among econo-
mists" (Becker, ~993, p. 765). His complete bibliography
lists 73 reviews in 24 publications ranging from strictly pro-
fessional, like the Journal of Political Economy (22) en c! the
OCR for page 354
354
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
American Economic Review (10), to the popular, like the Wall
Street Journal (5), en c! the New York Times (3), en c! ciating
from 1939 to 1989.
Stigler's last book, his intellectual autobiography, Mem-
oirs of an Unregulated Economist (1988), is a clelight to react.
As I clescribec! it at the time: "Stigler's memoirs are a gem:
in style, in wit, en c! above all, in substance, they reflect
accurately his own engaging personality en c! his extraorcli-
narily diverse contributions to our science."
STIGLER AS TEACHER
Stigler was also a great teacher. Many who knew him only
casually, especially in his younger years, were offended by
his wit, which conic! be biting, en c! his unerring ability to
Sac! just the right response to deflate pomposity en c! pre-
tentiousness. His students never hac! that reaction. He was
uniformly available, tolerant of their lack of unclerstancling
of subtle points, and willing to go to any length to help
them. He inspirer! them by his own high stanciarcis en c!
instiller! a respect for economics as a serious subject con-
cerned with real problems.
As John Lothian, one of my students who took several
courses from Stigler, wrote me after Stigler's cleath: "His
lectures taught me how to think about economics . . . His
public persona was one of not suffering fools glacITy, but
that certainly clic! not come across in the classroom or in
his incliviclual meetings with us to talk over what we were
doing in our papers for the course . . . He seemed quite
willing to put up with foolishness from us as long as it
seemed like we might ultimately get somewhere with what
we were doing."3 Another student of Stigler's, Thomas Sowell,
wrote: "What Stigler really taught, whether the course was
industrial organization or the history of economic thought,
was intellectual integrity, analytical rigor, respect for evi
OCR for page 355
G E O R G E J O S E P H S T I G L E R
355
clence en c! skepticism towarc! the fashions en c! enthusiasms
that come and go" (Sowell, ~993, p. 788).
Stigler supervisec! many cloctoral dissertations at both
Columbia en c! the University of Chicago, a sharp contrast
with the recorc! of Frank Knight, uncler whom Stigler wrote
his thesis. His students come close to dominating the field!
of inclustrial organization.4
FINAL WORD
I give final wore! on Stigler to his colleague en c! fellow
recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sci-
ence, Ronalc! Coase:
He is equally at home in the history of ideas, economic theory, and the
study of politics. Even more remarkable is the variety of ways in which he
handles a problem; he moves from the marshaling of high theory to apho-
rism to detailed statistical analysis, a mingling of treatments.... It is by a
magic of his own that Stigler arrives at conclusions which are both unex-
pected and important. Even those who have reservations about his conclu-
sions will find that a study of his argument has enlarged their understand-
ing of the problem being discussed and that aspects are revealed which
were previously hidden. Stigler never deals with a subject which he does
not illuminate. And he expresses his views in a style uniquely Stiglerian,
penetrating, lively, and spiced with wit. His writings are easy to admire, a
joy to read, and impossible to imitate (Coase, 1991, p. 472~.
NOTES
1. Both essays are reprinted in The Citizen and the State: Essays on
Regulation, pp. 61-77, 78-100. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1975.
2. Sam Peltzman recalculated the empirical results in the Stigler-
Friedland article to correct a mistake in the original. His thought-
ful and sophisticated article brings the story up to date (Peltzman,
1993).
3. Personal letter dated Dec. 3, 1991.
4. According to Claire Friedland, Stigler's associate for many
years, he served on more than forty thesis committees at Chicago,
OCR for page 356
356
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
perhaps forty more at Columbia, and chaired a considerable frac-
tion of those committees.
REFERENCES
Becker, G. S. 1993. George Joseph Stigler. 7. Polit. Econ. 101:761-67.
Coase, R. 1991. George J. Stigler. In Remembering the University of
Chicago, ed. E. Shils, pp. 469-78. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Demsetz, H. 1982. The 1982 Nobel Prize in economics. Science 218:655-
57.
Peltzman, S. 1993. George Stigler's contribution to the economic
analysis of regulation. 7. Polit. Econ. 101:818-32.
Rosenberg, N. 1993. George Stigler: Adam Smith's best friend. 7.
Polit. Econ. 101 :833-48.
Schmalensee, R. 1987. The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics,
vol. 4, eds. J. Eatwell, M. Milgate, and P. Newman, pp. 499-500.
New York: Stockton Press.
Sowell, T. 1993. A student's eye view of George Stigler. J. Polit. Econ.
101 :784-92.
Stigler, G. J. 1961. The economics of information. 7. Polit. Econ.
69:213-25.
. 1969. Does economics have a useful past? Hist. Polit. Econ.
1 :217-30.
. 1971. The theory of economic regulation. Bell J. Econ. Man.
Sci. 2:3-21.
1973. A sketch of the history of truth in teaching. 7. Polit. Econ.
81 :491-95.
1975. The Citizen and the State: Essays on Regulation. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
1983. Nobel lecture: The process and progress of economics.
f. Polit. Econ. 91 :529-45.
1988. Memoirs of an Unregulated Economist. New York: Basic
Books.
OCR for page 357
G E O R G E J O S E P H S T I G L E R
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
1941
357
Production and Distribution Theories: 1870-1895. New York: Macmillan.
1945
The cost of subsistence. 7. Farm Econ. 27: 303-14.
1946
The Theory of Price. New York: Macmillan.
1947
Domestic Servants in the United States, 1900-1940. New York: National
Bureau of Economic Research.
The kinky oligopoly demand curve and rigid prices. 7. Polit. Econ.
55:432-49.
Trends in Output and Employment. New York: National Bureau of Eco-
nomic Research.
1949
Five Lectures on Economic Problems. New York: Longmans, Green Co.
1950
Employment and Compensation in Education. New York: National Bu-
reau of Economic Research.
1954
The economist plays with blocs. Am. Econ. Rev. Pap. Proc. 44:7-14.
1956
Trends in Employment in the Service Industries. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press.
1957
With D. M. Blank. Supply and Demand for Scientific Personnel. Princeton,
N. J.: Princeton University Press.
OCR for page 358
358
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1958
The goals of economic policy. 7. Bus. 5:169-76.
1963
Capital and Rates of Return in Manufacturing Industries. Princeton,
N. J.: Princeton University Press.
The Intellectual and the Market Place, and Other Essays. New York: Free
Press of Glencoe.
1965
Essays in the History of Economics. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
1967
Imperfections in the capital market. 7. Polit. Econ. 75:287-92.
1968
The Organization of Industry. Homewood, Ill.: Irwin.
1970
Director's law of public income redistribution. 7. Law Econ. 13:1-10.
1975
The Citizen and the State: Essays on Regulation. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
1977
With G. S Becker. De gustibus non est disputandum. Am. Econ. Rev.
67:76-90.
1982
The Economist as Preacher, and Other Essays. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
1986
The Essence of Stigler, eds. K. R. Leube and T. G. Moore. Stanford,
Calif: Hoover Institution Press.
OCR for page 359
G E O R G E J O S E P H S T I G L E R
1988
Memoirs of an Unregulated Economist. New York: Basic Books.
1990
359
The place of Marshall's Principles in the development of economics.
In Centenary Essays on Alfred Marshall, ed. J. K. Whitaker, pp. 1-13.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
economic theory
