Don Patinkin
Encyclopedia
Don Patinkin (January 8, 1922 – August 7, 1995) was an Israeli/American monetary economist, and the president of Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
. While doing his undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago
, he also studied the Talmud
at the Hebrew Theological College
in Chicago. He continued at Chicago for his graduate studies, earning a Ph.D. in 1947 under the supervision of Oskar R. Lange. Patinkin was a strong Zionist and, while doing his graduate studies, already planned to emigrate to Palestine
; in his graduate research he studied Palestinian economics, with a view to making his emigration case stronger, although he did not complete his thesis in this subject. After graduating he held lecturer positions at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois until he succeeded in emigrating to Israel in 1949, where he was hired by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He remained at the Hebrew University for the rest of his career and was university president from 1982 to 1986, but resigned due to the poor state of the university's finances. He retired in 1989, and died August 7, 1995 in Jerusalem.
of Keynesian macroeconomics
, particularly the role of money demand. His monograph Money, Interest, and Prices (1956) was for many years one of the most widely-used advanced references on monetary economics.
in 1970.
In 1989, a conference was held in honor of Patinkin's retirement.
Biography
Patinkin was born January 8, 1922, in Chigago, to a family of Jewish emigrants from BelarusBelarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. While doing his undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, he also studied the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
at the Hebrew Theological College
Hebrew Theological College
The Hebrew Theological College, known as "Skokie Yeshiva," is a Yeshiva in Skokie, Illinois which also functions as a private university on campus. The primary focus of the Yeshiva is to teach Torah and Jewish traditions...
in Chicago. He continued at Chicago for his graduate studies, earning a Ph.D. in 1947 under the supervision of Oskar R. Lange. Patinkin was a strong Zionist and, while doing his graduate studies, already planned to emigrate to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
; in his graduate research he studied Palestinian economics, with a view to making his emigration case stronger, although he did not complete his thesis in this subject. After graduating he held lecturer positions at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois until he succeeded in emigrating to Israel in 1949, where he was hired by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He remained at the Hebrew University for the rest of his career and was university president from 1982 to 1986, but resigned due to the poor state of the university's finances. He retired in 1989, and died August 7, 1995 in Jerusalem.
Research
Patinkin's work explored some of the microfoundationsMicrofoundations
In economics, the term microfoundations refers to the microeconomic analysis of the behavior of individual agents such as households or firms that underpins a macroeconomic theory....
of Keynesian macroeconomics
Keynesian economics
Keynesian economics is a school of macroeconomic thought based on the ideas of 20th-century English economist John Maynard Keynes.Keynesian economics argues that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes and, therefore, advocates active policy responses by the...
, particularly the role of money demand. His monograph Money, Interest, and Prices (1956) was for many years one of the most widely-used advanced references on monetary economics.
Publications
- "Mercantilism and the Readmission of Jews in England", 1946, Jewish Social Studies
- "Multiple-Plant Firms, Cartels and Imperfect Competition", 1947, QJE.
- "Relative Prices, Say's Law, and the Demand for Money", 1948, Econometrica.
- "Price Flexibility and Full Employment", 1948, AER.
- "The Indeterminacy of Absolute Prices in Classical Economic Theory", 1949, Econometrica.
- "Involuntary Unemployment and the Keynesian Supply Function", 1949, EJ.
- "A Reconsideration of the General Equilibrium Theory of Money", 1950, RES.
- "The Invalidity of Classical Monetary Theory", 1951, Econometrica.
- "Further Considerations of the General Equilibrium Theory of Money", 1951, RES.
- "The Limitations of Samuelson's `Correspondence Principle'", 1952, Metroeconomica.
- "Wicksell's `Cumulative Process'", 1952, EJ.
- "Dichotomies of the Pricing Process in Economic Theory", 1954, Economica.
- "Keynesian Economics and the Quantity Theory", 1954, in Kurihara, editor, Post-Keynesian Economics.
- "Monetary and Price Developments in Israel", 1955, Scripta Hierosolymitana.
- "Money, Interest and Prices: An integration of monetary and value theory", 1956.
- "Liquidity Preference and Loanable Funds: Stock and flow analysis", 1958, Economica.
- "Secular Price Movements and Economic Development: Some theoretical aspects", in Bonne, editor, The Challenge of Development.
- "The Israel Economy: The first decade", 1959.
Awards and honors
Patinkin was awarded the Israel PrizeIsrael Prize
The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
in 1970.
In 1989, a conference was held in honor of Patinkin's retirement.
Additional reading
- R. Dimand (2008), Monetary economics, history of, article in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
- N. Liviatan (2006), Don Patinkin's contribution to monetary theory, Israel Economic Review
- D. Rozborilova (2003), Profiles of World Economists: Don Israel Patinkin
External links
- Inventory of the Don Patinkin Papers, 1870-1995, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Also includes life chronology.
- References to Patinkin's 'classic' work (on dust jacket of Woodford textbook)
See also
- List of Israel Prize recipients