James Meade
The Utopian Economist
Published on 19. February 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
1002 pages
978-1-009-65247-6 (ISBN)
Description
James Meade was a highly influential British economist who made significant contributions to both theoretical economics and economic policy. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work on the theory of international economic policy and was one of the first economists to serve in the wartime Economic Section of the Cabinet Offices, becoming Director in 1946. Among his many successes in applying theory to policy are the first official national income accounts, 'Keynesian' employment policies and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. This comprehensive biography of Meade's life and career, based on archival sources, covers both his achievements in theoretical economics and his contributions to the development of British and international economic policy during and after the Second World War. It will be of interest to anyone interested in the history of economics in the twentieth century.
Reviews / Votes
'James Meade is one of the most important but underrated economists of the mid twentieth century. Susan Howson provides a wonderful introduction to his contributions and scholarly life.' Douglas Irwin, Dartmouth College 'With James Meade: The Utopian Economist, Susan Howson has written a wonderful biography of this giant of economics. Based on meticulous archival research and great scholarship, Howson not only shows Meade's tremendous influence on economic thought and policy-making, but also offers an intimate portrait of Meade and his life, painting so a fine picture of Europe in the twentieth century.' Ivo Maes, Robert Triffin Chair, Universite catholique de Louvain, and Non-resident Fellow, Bruegel 'Despite being at the centre of the mid-century revolution in economic policy-making, James Meade often referred to himself as a 'utopian economist' and an 'ivory tower economist'. Susan Howson's new biography of Meade makes clear the nature of his achievement as both an economic theorist and an economic policy adviser. Howson has produced the definitive biography of a great economist and a great human being.' Bradley Bateman, author of Keynes's Uncertain Revolution, and the co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to KeynesMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 53 mm
Weight
1398 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-009-65247-6 (9781009652476)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 12/2025
Cambridge University Press
€185.50
Not yet published
Person
Susan Howson is a Professor of Economics and Fellow of Trinity College, University of Toronto; she has also held visiting positions in the International Division of the Bank of England, Nuffield College Oxford and Wolfson College Cambridge. She has published several books on British economic policy in the 20th century, Domestic Monetary Management in Britain 1919-38 (Cambridge University Press 1975), The Economic Advisory Council 1930-1939 (with Donald Winch) (Cambridge University Press 1977) and British Monetary Policy 1945-51 (1992), and edited The Collected Papers of James Meade (3 vols, 1988) and, with Donald Moggridge, The Wartime Diaries of Lionel Robbins and James Meade and the Cabinet Office Diary of James Meade (1990). She wrote the definitive biography of Lionel Robbins (Cambridge University Press 2011) at the request of his family and edited his major articles and lectures (1997 and 2018). Besides two prizes for her early work and two senior research fellowships she was made a Distinguished Fellow of the History of Economics Society in 2019.
Content
Introduction; 1. Boyhood; 2. Oriel College Oxford; 3. Hertford College Oxford; 4. A married don; 5. Geneva; 6. Wartime Whitehall, 1940-1; 7. Postwar reconstruction, 1941-2; 8. 943; 9. The last months of the war; 10. The postwar Labour government; 11. London and Geneva: the ITO and GATT; 12. The London School of Economics; 13. Trade and welfare; 14. Cambridge; 15. Mauritius: The Meade Mission; 16. The sixties; 17. The sixties continued; 18. Senior research fellow 1969-74; 19. The Meade Report; 20. The Stagflation Project; 21. Stagflation and the share economy; 22. Agathotopia or a good place.