Famous Economist John Kenneth Galbraith dies

John Kenneth Galbraith died this morning. One of few economists well-known to the general public. I remember reading The New Industrial State many years ago, though I was never really a fan of his work. RIP JKG.

He was an avowed liberal in the modern sense.

The WSJ quotes him as saying: "There is no hope for liberals if they seek only to imitate conservatives, and no function either," Mr. Galbraith wrote in a 1992 article in Modern Maturity, a publication of the American Association of Retired Persons.

"In the end, it is the liberals who save the conservatives," he wrote, insisting that capitalism couldn't survive without social programs such as public housing, unemployment benefits and welfare for the helpless poor.

When Bill Clinton won the presidency in November 1992, Mr. Galbraith commented: "This gives me some hope for the economy. .. I think Clinton will present a substantive program for putting people to work through infrastructure work, and he'll get his tax increase because he's had a big win."

CNN.com - Economist John Kenneth Galbraith dies - Apr 30, 2006: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- John Kenneth Galbraith, an influential liberal economist and author of 'The Affluent Society,' has died at age 97, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

The Canadian-born Galbraith, a professor at Harvard University, died on Saturday at a hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the paper said.

Galbraith's most famous work, 1958's 'The Affluent Society,' became a bestseller. In the book, he argued that the United States had become rich in consumer goods but poor in social services."

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