Fritz Machlup
Born(1902-12-15)December 15, 1902
DiedJanuary 30, 1983(1983-01-30) (aged 80)
NationalityAustria-Hungary, United States
InstitutionNew York University
(1971–83)
Princeton University
(1960–83)
Johns Hopkins University
(1947–59)
University at Buffalo
(1935–47)
School or
tradition
Austrian School
Alma materUniversity of Vienna
(Dr. rer. pol 1923)
InfluencesFriedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich von Wieser
ContributionsInformation society
Signature
Fritz Machlup signature.gif

Fritz Machlup (/ˈmɑːxlp/; German: [ˈmaxlʊp]; December 15, 1902 – January 30, 1983) was an Austrian-American economist who was president of the International Economic Association from 1971–1974. He was one of the first economists to examine knowledge as an economic resource,[citation needed] and is credited with popularizing the concept of the information society.[citation needed]

Early life and career

He was born to Jewish parents in Wiener-Neustadt, Austria, near Vienna; his father was a businessman who owned two factories that manufactured cardboard.[1] Machlup earned his doctorate at the University of Vienna. In 1933, he received a Rockefeller scholarship for the USA and in 1935 became professor at the University of Buffalo. After the Nazi seizure of his homeland Austria in 1938, Machlup stayed in the United States and became a US citizen in 1940.[2]

Machlup's key work was The Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the United States (1962), which is credited with popularizing the concept of the information society.

Machlup was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1961 and the American Philosophical Society in 1963.[3][4] He was president of the International Economic Association from 1971–1974.

Shortly before his death he completed the third in a series of ten planned volumes collectively called Knowledge: Its Creation, Distribution, and Economic Significance.

Machlup is also credited with forming the Bellagio Group in the early 1960s.[5][6] This group was the direct predecessor of the influential Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty, which he joined in 1979.

Major works

See also

References

  1. ^ Gottfried Haberler. "Fritz Machlup In Memoriam." Cato Journal, vol. 3, #1, 1983, p. 11. [1]
  2. ^ Klausinger, Hansjoerg (2014). "Academic Anti-Semitism and the Austrian School: Vienna, 1918–1945" (PDF). Atlantic Economic Journal. 42 (2): 191–204. doi:10.1007/s11293-014-9410-x. S2CID 154581753.
  3. ^ "Fritz Machlup". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  4. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  5. ^ Gottfried Haberler. "Fritz Machlup: In Memoriam" (PDF). Cato Journal. Cato Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-03-16.
  6. ^ "Bellagio Group". MIT. Retrieved 3 August 2020.