Henry Ludwell Moore
Encyclopedia
Henry Ludwell Moore was an American economist
known for his pioneering work in econometrics
.
Moore was born in Charles County, Maryland
, the first of 15 children. He received a B.A. from Randolph-Macon College
in 1892 and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University
in 1896. His thesis was on von Thünen's
theory of the natural wage. The visiting lecturers included Simon Newcomb
and J. B. Clark
and he may have learned some mathematical economics from them. While doing the Ph.D., he spent a year at the University of Vienna
. At that time study in Europe was quite usual; Americans often went to Europe, usually to Germany, for their entire graduate education. Moore was an early U.S. Ph.D. His academic career proceeded through an instructorship and lectureship at Johns Hopkins, a professorship at Smith College
from 1897 to 1902 and finally to positions at Columbia University
. He retired from Columbia in 1929 due to ill health.
Moore's earliest interest seems to have been in the history of economic thought but in 1901 he turned to the project of providing a "statistical complement to pure economics." Although he had studied with Carl Menger
in Vienna, his "pure economics" belonged rather to the Marshallian and Walrasian branches of marginal economics. In 1903, 1909 and 1912, Moore visited Walras
, Pareto
and Bortkiewicz
respectively. To improve his knowledge of statistical techniques, he attended the lectures of Karl Pearson
in 1909 and 1913.
Moore's first book, on testing the marginal productivity theory of wages, was well received as a pioneering venture, although Alfred Marshall
refused to read it, telling Moore that "it proceeds on lines which I deliberately decided not to follow many years ago." Moore wrote two books on economic cycles, in which the economic cycle is presented as a reflection of a physical cycle. Economic Cycles argues that a rainfall cycle affects agricultural markets, which affect industrial markets. Generating Economic Cycles traces the rainfall cycle back to an astronomical cycle. There is a strong family resemblance between this cycle work and the earlier sunspot research of William Stanley Jevons
. Moore's last book Synthetic Economics aimed to provide a statistical counterpart to Walras's general equilibrium theory.
With his contemporaries, Wesley Mitchell
and Irving Fisher
, H. L. Moore pioneered new kinds of quantitative economics in the United States. Unlike them, Moore was not a great public figure. He was a private, sensitive person who suffered from long periods of illness. At the end of his essay on Moore, Stigler writes "In general one can say that Moore was as much a founder of this movement [statistical economics] as any one man is likely to be a founder of a great movement toward which a science has been steadily moving."
There is a full bibliography in Stigler's article below.
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
known for his pioneering work in econometrics
Econometrics
Econometrics has been defined as "the application of mathematics and statistical methods to economic data" and described as the branch of economics "that aims to give empirical content to economic relations." More precisely, it is "the quantitative analysis of actual economic phenomena based on...
.
Moore was born in Charles County, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, the first of 15 children. He received a B.A. from Randolph-Macon College
Randolph-Macon College
Randolph–Macon College is a private, co-educational liberal arts college located in Ashland, Virginia, United States, near the capital city of Richmond. Founded in 1830, the school has an enrollment of over 1,200 students...
in 1892 and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
in 1896. His thesis was on von Thünen's
Johann Heinrich von Thünen
Johann Heinrich von Thünen was a prominent nineteenth century economist. Von Thünen was a Mecklenburg landowner, who in the first volume of his treatise, The Isolated State , developed the first serious treatment of spatial economics, connecting it with the theory of rent...
theory of the natural wage. The visiting lecturers included Simon Newcomb
Simon Newcomb
Simon Newcomb was a Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician. Though he had little conventional schooling, he made important contributions to timekeeping as well as writing on economics and statistics and authoring a science fiction novel.-Early life:Simon Newcomb was born in the town of...
and J. B. Clark
John Bates Clark
John Bates Clark was an American neoclassical economist. He was one of the pioneers of the marginalist revolution and opponent to the Institutionalist school of economics, and spent most of his career teaching at Columbia University.-Biography:Clark was born and raised in Providence, Rhode...
and he may have learned some mathematical economics from them. While doing the Ph.D., he spent a year at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
. At that time study in Europe was quite usual; Americans often went to Europe, usually to Germany, for their entire graduate education. Moore was an early U.S. Ph.D. His academic career proceeded through an instructorship and lectureship at Johns Hopkins, a professorship at Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
from 1897 to 1902 and finally to positions at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He retired from Columbia in 1929 due to ill health.
Moore's earliest interest seems to have been in the history of economic thought but in 1901 he turned to the project of providing a "statistical complement to pure economics." Although he had studied with Carl Menger
Carl Menger
Carl Menger was the founder of the Austrian School of economics, famous for contributing to the development of the theory of marginal utility, which contested the cost-of-production theories of value, developed by the classical economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo.- Biography :Menger...
in Vienna, his "pure economics" belonged rather to the Marshallian and Walrasian branches of marginal economics. In 1903, 1909 and 1912, Moore visited Walras
Léon Walras
Marie-Esprit-Léon Walras was a French mathematical economist associated with the creation of the general equilibrium theory.-Life and career:...
, Pareto
Vilfredo Pareto
Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto , born Wilfried Fritz Pareto, was an Italian engineer, sociologist, economist, political scientist and philosopher. He made several important contributions to economics, particularly in the study of income distribution and in the analysis of individuals' choices....
and Bortkiewicz
Ladislaus Bortkiewicz
Ladislaus Josephovich Bortkiewicz , August 7, 1868 – July 15, 1931) was a Russian economist and statistician of Polish descent, who lived most of his professional life in Germany, where he taught at Strassburg University and Berlin University...
respectively. To improve his knowledge of statistical techniques, he attended the lectures of Karl Pearson
Karl Pearson
Karl Pearson FRS was an influential English mathematician who has been credited for establishing the disciplineof mathematical statistics....
in 1909 and 1913.
Moore's first book, on testing the marginal productivity theory of wages, was well received as a pioneering venture, although Alfred Marshall
Alfred Marshall
Alfred Marshall was an Englishman and one of the most influential economists of his time. His book, Principles of Economics , was the dominant economic textbook in England for many years...
refused to read it, telling Moore that "it proceeds on lines which I deliberately decided not to follow many years ago." Moore wrote two books on economic cycles, in which the economic cycle is presented as a reflection of a physical cycle. Economic Cycles argues that a rainfall cycle affects agricultural markets, which affect industrial markets. Generating Economic Cycles traces the rainfall cycle back to an astronomical cycle. There is a strong family resemblance between this cycle work and the earlier sunspot research of William Stanley Jevons
William Stanley Jevons
William Stanley Jevons was a British economist and logician.Irving Fisher described his book The Theory of Political Economy as beginning the mathematical method in economics. It made the case that economics as a science concerned with quantities is necessarily mathematical...
. Moore's last book Synthetic Economics aimed to provide a statistical counterpart to Walras's general equilibrium theory.
With his contemporaries, Wesley Mitchell
Wesley Clair Mitchell
Wesley Clair Mitchell was an American economist known for his empirical work on business cycles and for guiding the National Bureau of Economic Research in its first decades....
and Irving Fisher
Irving Fisher
Irving Fisher was an American economist, inventor, and health campaigner, and one of the earliest American neoclassical economists, though his later work on debt deflation often regarded as belonging instead to the Post-Keynesian school.Fisher made important contributions to utility theory and...
, H. L. Moore pioneered new kinds of quantitative economics in the United States. Unlike them, Moore was not a great public figure. He was a private, sensitive person who suffered from long periods of illness. At the end of his essay on Moore, Stigler writes "In general one can say that Moore was as much a founder of this movement [statistical economics] as any one man is likely to be a founder of a great movement toward which a science has been steadily moving."
Works
- Laws of Wages: An Essay in Statistical Economics, 1911.
- Economic Cycles: Their Law and Cause, 1914.
- Forecasting the Yield and Price of Cotton, 1917.
- Generating Economic Cycles, 1923.
- Synthetic Economics, 1929
There is a full bibliography in Stigler's article below.
External links
- New School: Henry Ludwell Moore
- Two of Moore's books are available at the Archive for the History of Economic Thought
- Columbia University Library: Henry Ludwell Moore Collection