James Tobin

James Tobin, 1981 Nobel laureate in economics, was the outstanding monetary economist among American Keynesian economists. This book, the first written about James Tobin, examines his leading role as a Keynesian macroeconomist and monetary economist, and considers the continuing relevance of his ideas.

Coming to economics during the Great Depression, Tobin saw an active role for government in stabilizing the economy, maintaining full employment, limiting inequality and promoting economic growth. In addition to contributing to economics in fields from investment (the Tobin's q theory of investment) and money demand to long-run growth theory, Tobin was active in public policy, notably on President Kennedy's Council of Economic Advisers. As an outspoken 'Old Keynesian,' Tobin rebutted monetarist and New Classical claims that economies are automatically self-stabilizing.

Robert Dimand provides an in-depth study of James Tobin's work and life, making this text essential reading for scholars and researchers of the history of economic thought, monetary economics, and economic policy.

Robert Dimand is a professor of economics at Brock University, Canada. In 2012-13 he was President of the History of Economics Society. His first book, The Origins of the Keynesian Revolution (1988), was based on his Yale PhD dissertation, supervised by James Tobin. He is the co-author of a book on the history of game theory, editor or co-editor of a dozen books, and author of more than ninety refereed journal articles.