The intellectual revolution in U.S. economic policy-making - Noel Buxton Lecture - January 18 1966

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Eliana

A lecture by James Tobin delivered on 18 January 1966 explaining how, since 1960, the intellectual foundations of U.S. macro-economic policy-making have shifted. It contrasts earlier divides between university macro-economics and the models used by business and political decision-makers, arguing the gap has narrowed. Tobin emphasizes how practical policy is shaped by the acceptance of reasoning and how Keynesian ideas helped produce broader consensus on growth, full employment, and price stability.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages40

Reading Time1 h 41 min

AccessFree to download

Noel Buxton Lectures

Publication and lecture context

The intellectual revolution in U.S. economic policy-making

Macro-economic policy-making since 1960

The narrowing gulf between academia and practitioners

Practical acceptance of economic reasoning

职汇 5 2 es打 HJ 257 .T6 NUNC COGNOSCO EX PARTETRENT UNIVERSITYLIBRARY # he intellectual revolution n U.S.economicbolicy-making ames Tobin he University of Essexoel Buxton Lecture66 The Noel Buxton Lectures A generous gift from the Noel Buxton Trust has enabled the University of Essex toestablish for a period of seven years an annual lecture in the field of Social Studies.Under the terms of the gift special provision is made whereby the University is abletoinvite a lecturer from virtually anywhere in the world. The first Noel Buxton Lecture was given before an invited audience at the MootHall in Colchester on Friday,7 May,I965 by the Chancellor of the University,Lord Butler.Lord Butler chose for the subject of his lecture 'The Education ActI944 and After'.The second Lecture in this series was given at Colchester onTuesday,18 January,I966,by Professor James Tobin,Professor of Economicsat Yale University,and formerly a member of the Council of Economic Advisers The founder of the Trust,who was brought up in Essex,was greatly inspired bythe life and work of his ancestor,Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton,the anti-slavery leader.A believer in political as well as philanthropic action,Noel Edward Buxton enteredpolitics as a Liberal in the years before the First World War.During this period hewas mainly concerned with foreign affairs.At the end of the First World War hejoined the Labour Party and was Minister of Agriculture in the first Labouradministration (1923-26).When the Labour Party again took office in 1928-29 hewent to the Lords as Lord Noel-Buxton.Thereafter his main political interests layin foreign affairs and in agriculture. Among its many objectives the Noel Buxton Trust aims at promoting the theoryand practice ofeducation and the studyand generalknowledge of political,economicand social science,statistics,philosophy,history,jurisprudence and internationallaw,and all matters relating to the practice and development of communities. # The intellectual revolutionin U.S.economic policy-making # The intellectual revolution in U.S.economicpolicy-making James TobinProfessor of Economics,Yale University The second Noel Buxton Lectureof the University of EssexI8 January I966 Longmans for the University of Essex H丁25丁6 Longmans,Green and Co.Ltd.48 Grosvenor Street,London W.I Associated companies,branches and representativesthroughout the world CThe University of Essex I966First published I966 Printed in Great Britain by Spottismoode,Ballantyne and Co.Ltd.,London and Colchester # The intellectual revolutionin U.S.economic policy-making Noel Buxton Lecture 18 January I966 I Since I96o a revolution has occurred in the intellectual basis ofmacro-economic policy-makingin the United States.I say macro-economic because the policies mainly affected are the national fis-cal and monetary measures that relate to the stability and growthof the economy as a whole rather than the host of governmentalregulations,subsidies,and taxes bearing on specific individuals,industries,and regions.I say revolution even though professionaleconomics in the United States cannot claim any spectacularbreakthrough in economic theory or econometric knowledge.Inour universities economists analyse the problems of stabilizationand growth with much the same tools that they,along withecono-mists on this side ofthe Atlantic,have used for the past ten or eventhirty years. What was profoundly changed is the view of the economicmechanism commonly accepted by men of affairs,the modelswhich influential laymen unconsciously employ.Five years agoan immense gulf separated the macro-economics of the universityclassroom and scholarly journal from the macro-economics ofbusinessmen,bankers,Congressmen,financial journalists,andeditorial writers.It may be difficult for you to understand theextent of this gulf,for nothing like it has existed in the UnitedKingdom for several decades.Today,at long last,the gulf hasbeen greatly narrow

FAQs

What change has occurred in the intellectual basis of U.S. macro-economic policy-making since 1960?

A revolution has occurred in the intellectual foundations behind U.S. macro-economic policy-making, reshaping how stabilization and growth policies are understood and justified.

How does the lecture describe the earlier gap between university economics and practical policy?

It describes a major gulf five years earlier between macro-economics used in classrooms and journals and the macro-economics employed by businessmen, bankers, politicians, and editorial writers, which has since been greatly narrowed.

Why does the lecture emphasize that practical policy depends on the ability to follow economic reasoning?

It argues practical men dominate national policy and will not accept expert recommendations unless they can understand the reasoning and adapt it to their own view of the economic process.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Eliana