IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/fan/spespe/vhtml10.3280-spe2014-001002.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Richard Kahn and Israeli Economic Policy, 1957 and 1962

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Schiffman

Abstract

This paper documents Richard Kahn?s role as an unofficial advisor to the Israeli Government, using archival and published sources. In 1957, Kahn predicted that the European Economic Community (EEC) customs union would harm Israel?s trade and that the EEC would reject Israel?s application for Associate Membership. He proposed a major reform of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) that would significantly reduce real wage protection and move Israel closer to the Swedish wage system. In 1962, he took a neutral position regarding the sustainability of Israel?s international imbalances. He also criticized Israeli policymakers for overestimating the potential benefits of an Israel-EEC commercial agreement, and argued that the EEC would make reducing Israel?s trade deficit more difficult, even if the United Kingdom did not join. Ultimately, Israeli policymakers ignored Kahn?s advice: they continued to push for EEC Associate Membership and failed to adopt his proposal for COLA reform. In that sense, Kahn was unsuccessful as an advisor, but he was probably successful in the more limited sense of helping government officials attain greater clarity on economic issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Schiffman, 2014. "Richard Kahn and Israeli Economic Policy, 1957 and 1962," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 31-73.
  • Handle: RePEc:fan:spespe:v:html10.3280/spe2014-001002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=51017&Tipo=ArticoloPDF
    Download Restriction: Single articles can be downloaded buying download credits, for info: https://www.francoangeli.it/DownloadCredit
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. R. F. Kahn, 1947. "Tariffs and the Terms of Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 15(1), pages 14-19.
    2. Margaret L. Plunkett, 1958. "The Histadrut: The General Federation of Jewish Labor in Israel," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 11(2), pages 155-182, January.
    3. Pasinetti,Luigi L., 2007. "Keynes and the Cambridge Keynesians," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521872270.
    4. Edward Nelson, 2009. "Milton Friedman and U.K. economic policy: 1938-1979," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 91(Sep), pages 465-506.
    5. M. Bronfenbrenner, 1963. "Balm for the Visiting Economist," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71, pages 293-293.
    6. Pesaran, M Hashem & Harcourt, G C, 2000. "Life and Work of John Richard Nicholas Stone 1913-1991," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(461), pages 146-165, February.
    7. Michael Bruno, 1964. "The Use Of National Accounting Frameworks For Economic Policy And Development Forecasting: A Survey Of Israel'S Research Experience 1958–61," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, March.
    8. Nadav Halevi, 2006. "The Development in Israel of the Concept of Economic Independence," Israel Economic Review, Bank of Israel, vol. 4(1), pages 7-11.
    9. Halevi, Nadav, 1969. "Economic Policy Discussion and Research in Israel," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(4), pages 74-118, Part II S.
    10. Leeson, Robert, 1998. "The Early Patinkin—Friedman Correspondence," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 433-448, December.
    11. S. Riemer, 1960. "Israel: Ten Years Of Economic Dependence," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 141-169.
    12. D. Patinkin, 1995. "The training of an economist," Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 48(195), pages 359-395.
    13. Roger E. Backhouse & James Forder, 2013. "Rationalizing Incomes Policy in Britain, 1948-1979," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(1), pages 17-35.
    14. Anonymous, 1961. "Organization for European Economic Cooperation," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 204-205, January.
    15. Mordechai E. Kreinin, 1956. "Controlled Inflation in Israel, 1949-54," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64, pages 111-111.
    16. Evans, Michael K, 1970. "An Econometric Model of the Israeli Economy, 1952-65," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 38(5), pages 624-660, September.
    17. Ephraim Kleiman, 1981. "Israel: Economists in a New State," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 13(3), pages 548-579, Fall.
    18. Louis-Philippe Rochon, 2001. "Cambridge's Contribution to Endogenous Money: Robinson and Kahn on credit and money," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 287-307.
    19. Therese Jefferson & John King, 2009. "Nicholas Kaldor and Critical Realism," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 463-480.
    20. Sebastian Edwards, 2005. "Establishing Credibility: The Role of Foreign Advisors," NBER Working Papers 11429, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Robert Leeson, 2000. "Patinkin, Johnson, and the Shadow of Friedman," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 32(4), pages 733-764, Winter.
    22. P. J. D. Wiles, 1957. "Changing Economic Thought In Poland," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 190-208.
    23. Pasinetti, Luigi L, 1994. "Richard Kahn, 10 August 1905-6 June 1989," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 18(1), pages 3-6, February.
    24. Michael Michaely, 1975. "Foreign Trade Regimes and Economic Development: Israel," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number mich75-1, March.
    25. Bruno, Michael & Sussman, Zvi, 1979. "Exchange-rate flexibility, inflation, and structural change : Israel Under Alternative Regimes," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 483-514, November.
    26. D. Patinkin, 1995. "The training of an economist," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 48(195), pages 359-395.
    27. Dudley Seers, 1962. "Why Visiting Economists Fail," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70, pages 325-325.
    28. Luca Fantacci & Maria Cristina Marcuzzo & Annalisa Rosselli & Eleonora Sanfilippo, 2012. "Speculation and buffer stocks: The legacy of Keynes and Kahn," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 453-473, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paolo Paesani & Annalisa Rosselli, 2014. "The Case for a Supra-national Control on Commodities in the post WWII World: Novel Perspectives from FAO and Kaldor Archives," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 5-30.
    2. Goulven Rubin, 2005. "Patinkin and the Pigou effect: or how a Keynesian came to accept an anti-Keynesian argument," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 47-72.
    3. Garbellini, Nadia, 2020. "Measurement without theory, and theory without measurement: What's wrong with Piketty's capital in the XXI century?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 50-62.
    4. Heinz D. Kurz & Neri Salvadori, 2011. "In Favor of Rigor and Relevance: A Reply to Mark Blaug," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 43(3), pages 607-616, Fall.
    5. Pasinetti, Luigi L., 2022. "Structural dynamics versus a macroeconomic approach – A final statement?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 559-561.
    6. Richard Pomfret, 1978. "The economic consequences for Israel of free trade in manufactured goods with the EEC," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 114(3), pages 526-539, September.
    7. Eckhard Hein, 2007. "Interest Rate, Debt, Distribution And Capital Accumulation In A Post‐Kaleckian Model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 310-339, May.
    8. Michael Michaely, 1971. "An Over-all View of Policy Patterns," NBER Chapters, in: The Responsiveness of Demand Policies to Balance of Payments: Postwar Patterns, pages 30-70, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Ha-Joon Chang & Antonio Andreoni, 2021. "Bringing Production Back into Development: An introduction," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(2), pages 165-178, April.
    10. Maki, Wilbur R., 1992. "Reshaping The City-Region In Global Competition," Staff Papers 13904, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    11. Kazuhiro Kurose, 2022. "A two-class economy from the multi-sectoral perspective: the controversy between Pasinetti and Meade–Hahn–Samuelson–Modigliani revisited," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 239-270, April.
    12. Pier Luigi Porta, 2013. "What remains of Sraffa's economics," Working Papers 242, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised May 2013.
    13. Massimo Cingolani, 2015. "Sylos Labini su Marx: implicazioni per la politica economica (Sylos Labini on Marx: economic policy implications)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 68(269), pages 81-147.
    14. Adrian Pabst & Roberto Scazzieri, 2012. "The political economy of civil society," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 337-356, December.
    15. K. Vela Velupillai, 2011. "Postkeynesian Precepts for Nonlinear, Endogenous, Nonstochastic, Business Cycle Theories," ASSRU Discussion Papers 1107, ASSRU - Algorithmic Social Science Research Unit.
    16. Pier Luigi Porta, 2011. "Lombard Enlightenment and Classical Political Economy," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 521-550, October.
    17. Mauro Boianovsky, 2002. "Patinkin, the Cowles Commission, and the theory of unemployment and aggregate supply," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 226-259.
    18. Yung Yang, 1981. "A Comparative analysis of the determinants of nontraditional exports for Brazil, Israel, and South Korea," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 117(3), pages 497-512, September.
    19. Joseph Djivre & Sigal Ribon, 2000. "Monetary Policy, the Output Gap and Inflation: A Closer Look at the Monetary Policy Transmission Mechanism in Israel 1989-1999," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2000.09, Bank of Israel.
    20. Geoffrey Harcourt & Peter Kriesler, 2012. "Introduction [to Handbook of Post-Keynesian Economics: Oxford University Press: USA]," Discussion Papers 2012-33, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fan:spespe:v:html10.3280/spe2014-001002. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Stefania Rosato (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/sommario.aspx?IDRivista=121 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.