“Communicating through the department would be like fornicating through the mattress”
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John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith, also known as J. K. Galbraith or Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the 2000s. As an economist, he leaned toward post-Keynesian economics from an institutionalist perspective. He served as the deputy director of the powerful Office of Price Admini…
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science · Canadian-American economist and diplomat (1908–2006) · economist · diplomat · politician · university teacher · non-fiction writer · writer · ambassador · novelist · scientist · also John Kenneth Galbraith, John K. Galbraith, John Galbraith, J. K. Galbraith, Ken Galbraith, Galbraith
Born 15 October 1908 · Died 29 April 2006 · Q186042
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2026· 2 entries
“You were either for the cause or against it, with the Kennedys or a leper”
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2025· 1 entry
Foreign Policy: Heterodox Economists: John Kenneth Galbraith
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2023· 1 entry
c-span: John Kenneth Galbraith
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2010· 2 entries
The Library of America published a new edition of Galbraith's major works, edited by his son, James K
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Became the first economist to have his works included in the Library of America series
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2008· 1 entry
To Galbraith's contribution to economics
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2006· 9 entries
The Chronicle of Higher Education: John Kenneth Galbraith Is Remembered as a Mentor and Scholar
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Died 2006-04-29.
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Galbraith died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, of natural causes at the age of 97, after a two-week stay in a hospital
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“You roll back the stones, and you find slithering things. That is the world of Richard Nixon.”
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“In economics, hope and faith coexist with great scientific pretension and also a deep desire for respectability.”
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“W bardzo szerokim zakresie, rzecz prosta, kojarzymy prawdę z wygodą – z tym, co najbardziej sprzyja interesom osobistym i własnemu powodzeniu albo stwarza najlepszą perspektywę uniknięcia przykrego wysiłku czy niepożądanych zmian w życiu. Podoba się nam też to, co najbardziej podbudowuje szacunek dla samych siebie.”
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“Modesty is a vastly overrated virtue.”
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“One must always have in mind one simple fact — there is no literate population in the world that is poor, and there is no illiterate population that is anything but poor.”
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“You will find that [the] State [Department] is the kind of organisation which, though it does big things badly, does small things badly too.”
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2004· 2 entries
The publication of an authorized biography, John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics by a friend and fellow progressive economist Richard Parker renewed interest in Galbraith's life journey and legac
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On which occasion Galbraith gave Sharpe a copy of what would be Galbraith's last book, The Economics of Innocent Fraud
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2000· 5 entries
Awarded Library of Congress Living Legend (2000).
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Won Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by Bill Clinton (2000).
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Awarded Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought (2000).
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Was awarded the Leontief Prize for his outstanding contribution to economic theory by the Global Development and Environment Institute
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Was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom
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1997· 2 entries
And, in 2001, awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, for his contributions to strengthening ties between India and the United States
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Was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
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1994· 1 entry
Awarded Lysenko Prize (1994).
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1993· 1 entry
Won Lomonosov Gold Medal (1993).
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1985· 2 entries
Awarded Humanist of the Year (1985).
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The American Humanist Association named him the Humanist of the Year
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1984· 1 entry
Visited the USSR, writing that the Soviet economy had made "great material progress" as, "in contrast to Western industrial economy," the USSR "makes full use of its manpower
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1979· 1 entry
Addressed Palau's legislature and participated in a seminar for the delegates to the Palau Constitutional Convention
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1977· 1 entry
For a major series on economics for PBS and BBC television—The Age of Uncertainty, broadcast in 38 countries
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1974· 1 entry
Awarded honorary doctorate from University of Paris-II (1974).
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1973· 2 entries
“Power and the Useful Economist”
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Galbraith published an account of his experiences in A China Passage, writing that there was "no serious doubt that China is devising a highly effective economic system," "[d]issidents are brought firmly into line in Chi
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1972· 2 entries
Awarded honorary doctor of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (1972).
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Served as president of the American Economic Association
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1968· 2 entries
Discussing the impact of Vietnam on American life
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Johnson defeated McCarthy by only about 300 votes, a humiliation for an incumbent president with a well funded campaign running against a senator widely considered to be too eccentric to be president, and who had only a
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1966· 5 entries
Galbraith made his final attempt to change Johnson's mind, warning that the Vietnam War would ruin his presidency and that he should stop taking the advice of Rostow
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Galbraith offered to write Johnson a speech that would set out an orderly withdrawal of American forces over the next year
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“an opportunity only the God-fearing deserve and only the extremely lucky get”
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When he was no longer ambassador, he told the United States Senate that one of the main causes of the 1965 Kashmir war was American military aid to Pakistan
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Galbraith was invited by the BBC to present the Reith Lectures, a series of radio broadcasts, which he titled The New Industrial State
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1965· 1 entry
Advised Johnson that he should "instruct officials and spokesmen to stop saying the future of mankind, the United States, and human liberty is being decided in Vietnam
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1963· 2 entries
Galbraith flew to Washington to discuss the peace proposal with Kennedy, where the president told him "to be prepared to seize upon any favorable moment to reduce our commitment [in Vietnam]", though it "might yet be som
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Przemysław Ogrodziński, the Polish ambassador in New Delhi, was ordered by his superiors in Warsaw: "As far as the Vietnam matter, we are discussing it
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1961· 2 entries
Career landmark: United States Ambassador to India (1961–1963).
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When Kennedy considered intervening in the civil war in Laos, Galbraith strongly advised him not to, warning him that the disastrous Bay of Pigs Invasion had been caused by Kennedy taking the advice offered by the hawkis
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1959· 1 entry
Awarded The Hillman Prize for Book Journalism (1959).
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1955· 1 entry
Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship (1955).
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1952· 3 entries
Galbraith concluded that the American economy was managed by a triumvirate of big business, big labor, and an activist government
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And the American Philosophical Society in 1980
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Galbraith's friends Arthur M
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1949· 1 entry
Was appointed professor of economics at Harvard
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1948· 1 entry
“almost unique unreadability of The General Theory Of Employment, Interest, And Money. As Messiahs go, Keynes was deeply dependent on his prophets.”
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1946· 2 entries
Won Medal of Freedom (1946).
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From President Truman and in 2000 from President Bill Clinton
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1945· 1 entry
Galbraith was invited by Paul Nitze to serve as one of the "Officers" of the Strategic Bombing Survey, initiated by the Office of Strategic Services
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1943· 1 entry
And more than 300,000 during the next year
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1942· 1 entry
Legitimized the OPA as a separate federal agency
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1941· 2 entries
It became the Office of Price Administration (OPA)
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President Roosevelt created the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply (OPACS)
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1938· 2 entries
Attending an international economic conference and developing his ideas
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Was given charge of a research project for the National Resources Planning Board
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1937· 2 entries
Galbraith married Catherine Merriam Atwater, whom he met while she was a Radcliffe graduate student
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Became a citizen of the United States and was no longer a British subject
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1934· 3 entries
As a 25-year-old, fresh out of graduate school and just about to join the Harvard faculty as a young instructor
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Started to work as an instructor at Harvard University
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Studied at University of California, Berkeley, Doctor of Philosophy (1934).
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1932· 1 entry
That was published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics
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1931· 1 entry
Galbraith graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the Ontario Agricultural College, which was then an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto
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1908· 2 entries
Born 1908-10-15.
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To Canadians of Scottish descent, Sarah Catherine (Kendall) and Archibald "Archie" Galbraith, in Iona Station, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in Dunwich Township, Ontario
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