Sir Hans Singer: The Life and Work of a Development Economist

by D. Shaw

Overview

This is the first biography of a world-famous pioneering development economist, Sir Hans W. Singer, who is better known throughout the developing world than any other economist, living or dead. It gives a detailed account of the way in which the 'twists of fate' led him to becoming a leading development economist. It contains a thematic synthesis of all his major theoretical and conceptual work and of the many initiatives in which he has been involved to solve the problems of developing countries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349402816
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/01/2002
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2002
Pages:	349
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

D. JOHN SHAW has known and worked with Hans W. Singer for many years. He was associated with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) for over thirty years, latterly as Economic Adviser and Chief of WFP's Policy Affairs Service. He also served as a consultant to the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Commonwealth Secretariat. He is currently on the International Editorial Board of the journal Food Policy and has written extensively on development and food aid issues. Among his publications are International Development Co-operation: Selected Essays by Hans W. Singer on Aid and The United Nations System: The UN World Food Programme and the Development of Food Aid (Palgrave 2001).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Foreword; Sir Richard Jolly Preface Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations PART I: THE EARLY YEARS (1910-47) Growing up in the Rhineland, Germany Bonn University: The Influence of Schumpter and Speithoff Keynes and the Cambridge Economics School Early Employment and Experience PART II: SERVICE IN THE UNITED NATIONS (1947-69) Initiation: A Case of Mistaken Identity The Economist as Adviser in an International Organization Distribution of Gains from Trade and Investment: The Terms of Trade Controversy Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED) Pre-Investment and the UN Special Fund Technical Assistance Multilateral Food Aid First UN Decade for Development UN Research Institute for Social Development Assignments outside New York Academic Activities while at the United Nations PART III: THE LATER YEARS (1969-2001) Work at IDS Employment and Redistribution from/with Growth Science and Technology for Developing Countries Food Aid and Food Security The United Nations and the Bretton Woods Institutions International Aid to Developing Countries Debt and Debt Servicing Relevance of Schumpter and Keynes for Developing Countries PART IV: AN APPRECIATION Recognition Twists of Fate Body of Work Special Attributes Forebears and Roots Continuing Relevance of Development Studies References Annex: Publications of Sir Hans W.Singer Index

Editorial Reviews

'No economist of the twentieth-century has been so persistent in focusing on the problems of developing countries - and so creative in exploring what can be done to accelerate their development. It is a remarkable story, the life and ideas of an intellectual giant John Shaw has performed a great service by documenting the record of Hans Singer's achievements, with attention to his writings and intellectual contributions over the whole of his life - from his early training at the feet of Schumpter and Keynes, his pioneering work in the early years of the United Nations, to the final phase of his career at the Institute of Development at the University of Sussex. Over time, Singer's imagination and writings have been honed to a new sharpness by outrage at increasing inequality in the era of globalization'. - Sir Richard Jolly, Senior Research Fellow, City University of New York's Graduate Centre and co-director of the United Nations Intellectual History Project

'This is more than the life-story of Britain's most highly respected and most-loved development economist: John Shaw's comprehensive narrative amounts to a history of development thinking over seven decades'. - Simon Maxwell, Director of the Overseas Development Institute, London

From the Publisher