Richard A. Radford
{{short description|American economist}}
{{Infobox economist
| name = Richard A. Radford
| school_tradition =
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| birth_date = 1919
| birth_place = Nottingham, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2006|11|07|1919|df=y}}
| death_place = Bethesda, Maryland, United States
| nationality = British; American
| institution = Johns Hopkins University
International Monetary Fund
| field = Price theory
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| influences = }}
Richard A. Radford (1919 – 7 November 2006) was a British-born American economist who served in the International Monetary Fund and became widely known for his 1945 article on prisoner-of-war camp economics.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/13/AR2006111301396.html Obituary], Washington Post, 14 November 2006
Early life
Radford was born in 1919 in Nottingham, England. He studied economics at the University of Cambridge. When World War II broke out, Radford left the university and enlisted as a soldier in the British Army. He fought in the Allies' North African Campaign but was captured in Libya by the German forces in 1942 and spent the remainder of the war years in the Stalag VII-A prisoner-of-war camp, in southern Bavaria.
Prisoner-of-war camp economics
During his time in the POW camp, Radford observed the life of prisoners and their economic interactions. On the basis of those observations, he wrote after the war ended the article "The Economic Organisation of a P.O.W. Camp," which appeared in the Economica journal in 1945.Woolley, Francis. "[https://nationalpost.com/full-comment/frances-woolley-the-pow-economy-explained The POW economy explained]", The National Post, 9 November 2010
The article eventually became a staple of introductory economics textbooks,, Hubbard, R. Glenn, Anne M. Garnett, Philip Lewis, Anthony Patrick O'Brien. Macroeconomics, 3rd edition, Pearson, 2014, {{ISBN|9781486010233}} and academic teachings as a primary example of people interacting economically,Fisman, Ray & Tim Sullivan. The Inner Lives of Markets: How People Shape Them – And They Shape Us, Public Affairs; 2016; {{ISBN|978-1610394925}} of the role of middlemen, and the free market at work.Hirshleifer, Jack, Amihai Glazer, David Hirshleifer. Price Theory and Applications – Decisions, Markets, and Information, University of California, Irvine, 2005, {{ISBN|9780521523424}} In the view of the Austrian school economist Robert P. Murphy, "there is nothing in Radford's account that conflicts with the standard economists’ story about the origin of money."Murphy, Robert P. "[http://consultingbyrpm.com/blog/2011/09/have-anthropologists-overturned-menger.html Have Anthropologists Overturned Menger?]", 1 September 2011
=Criticism=
Heterodox economists have criticized Radford's text for supporting the theory of the origin of money as commodity-money and for presenting an artificial situation, that of a POW camp, which they claim resembles a theoretical Walrasian exchange economy much more than the real-world economy.Berg, Matthew. "[http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2013/04/was-cigarette-money-in-world-war-ii-pow-camps-a-case-of-commodity-money-origination.html Was "Cigarette-Money" in World War II POW Camps a Case of Commodity Money Origination?]", New Economic Perspectives, 16 April 2013
Later career
After the war, Radford returned to Cambridge and received a bachelor's degree in economics. In 1947, he moved to Washington, D.C., to join the International Monetary Fund, while he also started teaching economics at the Johns Hopkins University. In his capacity as an IMF representative, Radford traveled widely throughout the world.
When he retired from the IMF in 1980, he was assistant director of the institution's Fiscal Affairs Department.
Personal life
Radford's first wife, Mary, with whom he had three children, died in 1977. His second marriage, which lasted 27 years, until his death, was to Margaret Radford. He died on 7 November 2006 at the Maplewood Park Place retirement home in Bethesda, Maryland, from complications of open aortic surgery.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- Radford, A.R. "[http://icm.clsbe.lisboa.ucp.pt/docentes/url/jcn/ie2/0POWCamp.pdf The Economic Organisation of a P.O.W. Camp]", Economica, November 1945
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Category:20th-century American economists
Category:British Army personnel of World War II
Category:British World War II prisoners of war