Robin Neill

{{Short description|Canadian economic historian}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Robin Foliet Neill

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| birth_date = 1931

| birth_place = Thunder Bay, Ontario

| death_date = 29 June 2014

| death_place = Rocky Point, Prince Edward Island

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| resting_place = Prince Edward Island

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| nationality = Canadian

| fields = Economic historian

| workplaces = Carleton University
University of Prince Edward Island

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| alma_mater = University of Toronto

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| spouse = Sharon

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| children = Natalie

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Robin F. Neill (1931–2014) was a Canadian economic historian who was a longstanding professor at Carleton University in Ottawa and then, latterly, at the University of Prince Edward Island.{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?pid=171579834 |title=Robin Neill's Obituary by Ottawa Citizen |publisher=Legacy.com |date= |accessdate=2014-07-18}}

Born in 1931 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Robin Neill held a B.A. and M.A. in political economy from the University of Toronto and a PhD in economics from Duke. His academic appointments included the University of Saskatchewan, 1960–69; University of Prince Edward Island, 1970–72; Carleton University, 1972–95 (retired as full professor), University of Prince Edward Island and Carleton University (-2013), adjunct professor, 1995–1998. He was special advisor to the Fisheries Council of Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, from 1984 to 1985.{{cite web|title=Profile|url=http://www.aims.ca/en/home/aboutus/boardofresearchadvisors/robinfneillchairman.aspx|publisher=Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS)|location=Halifax, Nova Scotia|accessdate=1 February 2014}} He was on the board of governors of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council from 1997 to 2003 and served as vice-president from 1998 to 2000. He was on the Atlantic Institute of Market Studies, research advisory board since 1998 and served as chairman of the RAB since 2001.{{cite web|url=http://people.upei.ca/rneill/ |title=Professor Robin Neill's CV |location=Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island |work=University of Prince Edward Island |date=nd |accessdate= 14 July 2014 }}

Over his career, Neill wrote three books and over forty academic articles. His writings in the Journal of Canadian Studies were extensive — with subjects including Adam Shortt, Harold Adams Innis, Social Credit, economic activity in Quebec, the state of economic history in the 1970s, and the Saskatchewan school of economic historiography. His work offers a right-wing analysis of Canadian economic history.

He established himself as a critic of Harold Adams Innis’ staple thesis,{{cite book | last=Neill | first=Robin | title=A History of Canadian Economic Thought | series=Routledge History of Economic Thought Series | location=London | publisher=Routledge | year=1991 | isbn=0-415-05412-5 | chapter=The Staple Thesis | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcanadia0000neil }} which explains Canadian economic development as a lateral, east–west conception of trade. Neill advocated a post-Innisian thesis, explaining the development as an expression of variegated regions (population density, cultural politics, geographic characteristics) and of their particular north–south relations with the United States.