سهم هرشل آی.گروسمن در اقتصاد سیاسی

Herschel Grossman was one of the most creative and productive economists of his generation in the field of political economy. This paper surveys his scientific contributions to the field.

When Herschel I. Grossman left this world on October 9, 2004 while attending a conference in Marseilles, the economics profession lost one of the most creative and productive economists of his generation. His heritage is some 80 publications in refereed journals, unfinished projects, and inspiration to colleagues and students. His publications suggest two scholars, one in the field of Keynesian macroeconomics and another in political economy and contest theory. Herschel Grossman began his career very much inspired by Keynesian economics and he was especially puzzled by the economic rationale for and the consequences of inflation. His textbook with Robert Barro (Barro and Grossman, 1976) is a classic in its field. Interestingly, there exists a direct path from Herschel Grossman's early research to his work on conflict and political economy (which he emphasized in an interview with Webpondo).1 At the heart of the Keynesian view of the economy is the connection between monetary and real variables, which contrasts with neoclassical neutrality. This latter placed the burden of proof on Keynesians, who had to explain how monetary policy could influence the real variables of the economy. Among the many answers, credibility, time consistency, and reputation most attracted Herschel Grossman's attention.

Herschel Grossman devoted his professional life to painting a great picture of the logic of human societies. This picture has all the elements of great art: the starting point is a simple yet convincing idea that is used with subtlety and ingenuity. Because of his sudden unexpected death, Herschel Grossman was unable to finish every element of his picture. The main structure is however clearly visible and will last. His work on property rights and the emergence of the state has substantially broadened the perspective of institutional and political economics, as has his work on the logic of political regimes.