Irving Fisher

Irving Fisher was one of the greatest and certainly one of the most colorful American economists. Widely acknowledged as the chief architect of modern neo-classical economics, he was a writer and teacher of prodigious scope and output whose business career included the earning of a fortune from the invention of a card index system, and its subsequent loss in the Great Crash. He was also an active campaigner for numerous causes, including world peace, prohibition, and 100 percent deposit reserve money.

This biography, focusing both on Fisher's personal life, as well as on his intellectual contributions, will be of wide interest to economists and of particular interest to American economics scholars who regard him as their pre-1950 giant of the discipline.

Foreword vii

Chronology xiii

Chapter 1. Irving Fisher: Scientist and Crusader 1

Chapter 2. The Making of a Scientist (1867-91) 20

Chapter 3. The Scientist Matures and Expands (1891-8) 42

Chapter 4. The Crusader Joins the Scholar (1898-1910) 80

Chapter 5. Completing the Foundation (1910-15) 109

Chapter 6. Tilting with Windmills (1916-24) 144

Chapter 7. Making and Losing Money (1925-9) 179

Chapter 8. Theorist, Reformer, Loser (1930-2) 219

Chapter 9. Activist, Advisor, Politician (1933-9) 250

Chapter 10. Moving into the Shadows (1940-7) 272

Chapter 11. Epilogue 295

Selected Bibliography 303

Index 313

Robert Loring Allen is the late Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri. His career as a professor of international economics and economic history spanned over 45 years. He wrote ten other books during his lifetime, including his most recent two-volume biography of Joseph Schumpeter. Irving Fisher was one of the greatest and certainly one of the most colorful American economists. Widely acknowledged as the chief architect of modern neo-classical economics, he was a writer and teacher of prodigious scope and output whose business career included the earning of a fortune from the invention of a card index system, and its subsequent loss in the Great Crash. He was also an active campaigner for numerous causes, including world peace, prohibition, and 100 percent deposit reserve money.

This biography, focusing both on Fisher's personal life, as well as on his intellectual contributions, will be of wide interest to economists and of particular interest to American economics scholars who regard him as their pre-1950 giant of the discipline.