This paper compares two popular views on the evolution of income inequality. With political arithmetic, nobel prizewinning economist robert fogel and his collaborators tell the story of economist simon kuznets, the founding of the national bureau of economic research, and the creation of the concept of gnp, which for the first time enabled us to measure the performance of entire economies. This acclaimed book by simon kuznets is available at in several formats for your ereader. April 30, 1901 july 8, 1985 was an american economist, statistician, demographer, and economic historian who won the 1971 nobel memorial prize in economic sciences for his empirically founded. Simon kuznets the history of economic thought website. The textbook in the economics portion of this course most widely used in american universities during the 1840s and 1850s. Simon kuznets s most popular book is toward a theory of economic growth. The russianborn simon kuznets left soviet russia in 1922, emigrating to new york. Quantitative aspects of the economic growth of nations. American economic association is collaborating with jstor to digitize, preserve and extend access to the. One of the major stylized facts about longrun processes of economic development is the kuznets curvethe inverseu shaped pattern of inequality. Simon smith kuznets april 30, 1901 july 8, 1985 was a belarusianamerican economist, statistician, demographer, and economic historian who won the 1971 sveriges riksbank prize in economic sciences in memory of alfred nobel for his empirically founded interpretation of economic growth which has led to new and deepened insight into the economic and social structure and process of.
Check out this biography to know about his childhood. Economic growth and income inequality simon kuznets the. This pdf is a selection from an outofprint volume from the national bureau of economic research. Simon kuznets project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Six lectures on economic growth isbn 97818215825 pdf epub. Inequality and economic performance a brief overview to theories of growth and distribution by francisco h. Books by simon kuznets author of toward a theory of economic. The sveriges riksbank prize in economic sciences in memory of alfred nobel 1971 was awarded to simon kuznets for his empirically founded interpretation of economic growth which has led to new and deepened insight into the economic and social structure and process of development. Simon kuznets provides a succinct analysis, illustrated with relevant statistical data, of the nature and development of economic growth since 1945.
Studies of income inequality and economic growth have been well conducted by many other scholars and organizations. Several of them concluded that this problem was unlikely to be solved within the federal government and in 1920 established a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan agency called the national bureau of economic research nber to construct national income accounts, collect information on business cycles, and to study the distributions of the national. Rate, structure, and spread is the fulfillment of a vision that redefined the study of economic growth. American economic association is collaborating with jstor to digitize, preserve and extend access to. Simon kuznets was awarded the 1971 nobel prize in economics for his empirically founded. With the emergence after world war ii of the newly independent nations of the third world, the problem of promoting economic growth came to the fore. Kuznets himself conjectured that the pattern was caused by dual economy dynamics which were generated by the switch from the agricultural to the industrial sector.
Apr 10, 2019 in the 1950s and 1960s, simon kuznets hypothesized that as an economy develops, market forces first increase then decrease the overall economic inequality of the society, which is illustrated by the inverted ushape of the kuznets curve. Amartya sen, harvard university, inequality reexamined. Simon kuznets econlib library of economics and liberty. Toward a theory of economic growth simon kuznets on. The starting point for the theoretical literature on the relationship between growth and income inequality is the kuznets hypothesis.
Angus deaton, princeton university, household behavior in developing countries. Simon kuznets biography facts, childhood, family life. Simon kuznets is best known for his studies of national income and its components. Economic development, the family, and income distribution by. He became a student of wesley mitchell at columbia and subsequently a researcher at mitchells national bureau of economic research nber in 1926. How simon kuznets codified modern economic growth chicago. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and other facts related to his life. Simon kuznets, russianborn american economist and statistician who won the 1971 nobel prize for economics, cited for his empirically founded interpretation of economic growth which has led to new and deepened insight into the economic and social structure and process of development. Simon kuznets was born in kharkov, russia, in 1901. Prior to world war i, measures of gnp were rough guesses, at best.
April 30, 1901 july 8, 1985 was an american economist and statistician who received the 1971 nobel memorial prize in economic sciences for his empirically founded interpretation of economic growth which has led to new and deepened. Born in pinsk, russia, on april 30, 1901, he received his education. Kuznets, recipient of the third nobel prize in economics, was a pivotal figure in the transformation of economics from a speculative and ideologically driven discipline into an empirically based social science. Drawing on his noted quantitative studies of modern economic growth, professor kuznets presents his views on the complex growth process and. In a seminal paper, kuznets 1955 argued that as countries developed, income inequality. Fogel, mark guglielmo, and nathaniel grotte volume publisher. No government agency collected data to compute gnp, and no private economic researcher did so systematically, either. This paper is perhaps 4 per cent empirical information and 95 per cent speculation, some of it possibly tainted by wishful thinking.
Putting a price on simon kuznetss nobel in economics. The environmental kuznets curve ekc is one of the crucial energyenvironmental economics research fields, which has been attracted by numerous academics and researchers for the last three decades. Does inequality in the distribution of income increase or decrease in the course of a. Existing theories of the kuznets curve have focused on economic factors. Rate, structure and spread 9780300001464 by simon kuznets and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. Simon kuznets, who was assisted by miss lillian epstein and miss elizabeth jenks of the.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Economic growth and income inequality 3 groups that, judged by their secular levels, migrate upward or down ward on the income scale. Toward a theory of economic growth by simon kuznets. Ekcrelated studies started with simon kuznets 1955 who examined the relationship between income inequality and economic growth. While it could be argued that the influence of simon kuznets on governmental. Simon kuznets, 1962 inequality persists, and so does a global concern over it. Kuznets and modern economic growth fifty years later.
His prize was awarded for his earlier work with growth and the economys size. Published asinequality reexamined, harvard university press, 1992. Environmental kuznets curve an overview sciencedirect topics. The two essays in this volume can be termed essential building blocks for constructing a systematic approach toward a theory of economic growth. During the decade following world war ii, when simon kuznets began to lay out his research agenda for studying and explaining the high, long term rates of economic growth, he was aware of the persistent tendency of keen observers to underestimate the capacity for continuing technological advances. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Simon kuznets lecture series economic growth center. American economist, researcher, and author, simon kuznets 19011985 won the nobel prize in 1971 for pioneering the use of a nations gross national product to analyze economic growth. Even if we had data to approximate the income structure just out lined, the broad question posed at the starthow income inequality.
Ferreira june 1999 text for world banks web site on inequality, poverty, and socioeconomic performance. Simon kuznets is best known to the public for the kuznets curve, which describes the relationship between economic growth and inequality. Putting a price on simon kuznetss nobel in economics simon kuznets, right, receiving his nobel medal in 1971. Kuznetss views about the invertedu relationship between inequality and development and the subsequent transformation process have been under the lens of researchers for a long time.
General interest economic development, the family, and income distribution by simon kuznets. Published as an economic growth center working paper. Postwar economic growth simon kuznets harvard university. This pdf is a selection from a published volume from the national bureau of economic research volume title. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. At an early age he and his family emigrated from russia to the united states. Simon kuznets was a noted russianamerican economist, statistician, demographer, and economic historian. Simon kuznetss most popular book is toward a theory of economic growth.
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