Students & Colleagues

Economists are not a homogeneous lot – they are of several doctrinal persuasions, elements of quasi-theological faith accounting for their differences. This is despite the fact that economic theory has tried to model its rigour on that of physics – long regarded as the queen of the sciences. But we are told these days, that even physics is touched by the hand of God. Some would say that, in the case of economics, the hand of Satan is evident. It is often difficult to discover an economist’s doctrinal persuasion by their pronouncements, particularly on policy matters: for some, the hand is the hand of Esau, but the voice is the voice of Jacob!

In Geoff Harcourt’s case, the hand and the voice belong to the one and the same person. He is on record as saying that the purpose of economics is “to make the world a better place for ordinary men and women, to produce a more just and equitable society…. I see economics as very much a moral as well as a social science and very much the handmaiden of progressive thought”.

The entry in the Encyclopaedia on Keynesian Economics says of Geoff that the hallmark of his economics and his life have been “the inextricable links between political and religious beliefs and economics”.

Currently, Geoff Harcourt is

• Professor Emeritus of the Uni of Adelaide
• Reader in the History of Economic Theory (a special position created for him) in the Faculty of Econ and Pol at Cambridge.
• Fellow and Lecturer of Jesus College, Cambridge. (He was for some years President of that College).
• He is a member of the Council of the Senate of Cambridge University.
• He is a Fellow of Australian Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
• He is a member of the Editorial Board of many international learned journals.

Born and bred in Melbourne, he started his academic life as a Commerce student at the University of Melbourne in 1950. He took up residence at Queen’s in 1951, and graduated with   first class honours in 1953, submitting a highly precocious thesis in his final honours year by attempting to integrate micro and macro economic systems. He then worked as a research assistant, doing an M.Com thesis on the side. Late in 1955, he he moved to King’s College, Cambridge, where he obtained a PhD under the supervision of the late Ronald Henderson.

Then followed various teaching appointments: at Adelaide between 1958 and 1982, securing a Personal Chair in 1967; and, in the intervenening years, various visiting appointments at Cambridge, Keio University, Japan, and the University of Toronto; and finally, back to Cambridge in 1982, for good, it seems.

Geoff has an extensive publication list – on present count, 133 papers, some jointly written, in various international journals, and 16 books. You may infer from that, that he is not a serious conservationist!

In 1988, he was awarded a Litt.D by Cambridge.

Geoff’s writings span a very wide area of economics, both in the field of theory and of policy. In this age of specialisation, this a remarkable achievement. There is, however, one gap in his output, namely, econometrics. Ross Williams may raise his eyebrows, but there is still time for Geoff to fill that gap!

For much of his academic life, Geoff has seemingly gone against the fashions of contemporary economic thought – at least, on matters relating to the efficiency and fairness of the market mechanism. He has battled unrelentingly to maintain his position, and it would be surprising if we were not given a sample of his views on the subject tonight.

Despite his great academic success, Geoff, the person, has remained as he always was – a man of extraordinary energy, kindness and generosity to his friends and his critics; friendly, informal and unpretentious, with the facility to loosen up the stiffness of Cambridge common rooms; a keen sense of humour, often directed against himself; a caring man, devoted to his family; a man of integrity, tenacity and courage – he took a leading role in Adelaide in the Campaign for Peace in Vietnam, despite many death threats and even an attempt to blow up his car. Finally, it would be remiss of me if I did not mention  his great love for sport, particularly Australian Rules and cricket, which he played until recently.

Time does not allow me to quote in any detail from the entry on him in the Encyclopaedia of Keynesian Economics which surveys his notable contributions in four areas of economics and concludes as follows:

It would do an injustice to Geoff Harcourt to assess his contribution to economics solely in these terms, important though each of them is. All the elements are united by a commonality of purpose (the betterment of the human condition) and a coherent methodological stance which explicitly requires different methods for different purposes…..As well as containing explicit statements of this methodology, Geoff Harcourt’s work provides an examplar of how it can be put into practice. This examplar goes beyond the specific methods and issues to be addressed; Geoff Harcourt provides a role model with his humour, warmth and courtesy, as well as his passionately-held beliefs and his determination to promote the development of economics along constructive lines. The corpus of his work has been achieved at the same time as devoting himself tirelessly and selflessly to encouraging, inspiring and promoting the work of others.

In 1994, Geoff was admitted as an Officer in the Order of Australia, for his “service to economic theory and to the history of economic thought”.

I have much pleasure in asking Professor Geoffrey Harcourt to deliver the Third Halford Cook Lecture.