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Robert Giffen | |
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| Born | (1837-07-22)22 July 1837 |
| Died | 12 April 1910(1910-04-12) (aged 72) Fort Augustus, Scotland |
| Alma mater | University of Glasgow |
| Occupation(s) | Economist, statistician |
Sir Robert GiffenKCB FRS (22 July 1837 – 12 April 1910) was a Scottishstatistician andeconomist.[1]
Giffen was born atStrathaven,Lanarkshire. He entered a solicitor's office inGlasgow, and while in that city attended courses at theuniversity. He drifted into journalism, and after working for theStirling Journal he went to London in 1862 and joined the staff of the Globe. He also assistedJohn Morley, when the latter edited theFortnightly Review. In 1868 he becameWalter Bagehot's assistant-editor onThe Economist; and his services were also secured in 1873 as city editor of theDaily News, and later ofThe Times.
His reputation as a financial journalist and statistician, gained in these years, led to his appointment in 1876 as head of the statistical department in theBoard of Trade, and subsequently he became assistant secretary (1882) and finally controller-general (1892), retiring in 1897. As chief statistical adviser to the government, he drew up reports, gave evidence before commissions of inquiry, and acted as a government auditor.
Giffen was president of theStatistical Society (1882–1884); He was made a Companion of theOrder of the Bath in 1891. In 1892 he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society, and in 1894 he received theGuy Medal (gold) from the RSS. He was elected a member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1897.
Robert Giffen continued in later years to take a leading part in all public controversies connected with finance and taxation, and his high authority and practical experience were universally recognised. He was awarded a Knight Commander of theOrder of the Bath in 1895.[2] He died somewhat suddenly inFort Augustus, Scotland on 12 April 1910.
Giffen published essays on financial subjects. His major publications were:
The concept of aGiffen good is named after him.Alfred Marshall wrote in the third (1895) edition of hisPrinciples of Economics:
As Mr. Giffen has pointed out, a rise in the price of bread makes so large a drain on the resources of the poorer labouring families and raises so much themarginal utility of money to them, that they are forced to curtail their consumption of meat and the more expensive farinaceous foods: and, bread being still the cheapest food which they can get and will take, they consume more, and not less of it.
Marshall's attribution identified no corresponding passage in Giffen's writings.
On 25 March 1908, Giffen spoke at theRoyal United Services Institution in London, where he predicted that a major war would shock the world credit system, which in turn would virtually halt international trade.[4] This inspired the British Admiralty's plans for economic warfare at the outbreak of the First World War.[5]
Works by or aboutRobert Giffen atWikisource
The main part of this entry is taken from the1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
