Harry G. Shaffer

Who was Harry G. Shaffer?

Harry G. Shaffer was Professor Emeritus of the Economics Department at the University of Kansas. He was born on August 28, 1919, in Vienna, Austria. Fluent in German, Shaffer served in World War II, in which he acted as a translator. He was active in the Civil Rights movement and the movement against the War in Vietnam. He wrote one popular book called "American Capitalism and the Changing role of Government" and about ten scholarly books, including "The Soviet System in Theory and Practice: Western and Soviet Views," "The Soviet Economy: Western and Soviet Views," "From Underdevelopment to Affluence: Western, Soviet, and Chinese Views," "The Soviet Treatment of Jews," "Women in the Two Germanies: A Comparative Study of a Socialist and Non-Socialist Society," "Periodicals on the Socialist Countries and Marxism: A New Annotated Index of English Language Publications," "Soviet Agriculture: An Assessment of Its Contributions to Economic Development," and others. Although out of print, all the books named here can be located on Amazon. Harry Shaffer prided himself on being one of the few American scholars presenting a balanced view of capitalism and socialism by presenting voices from both sides of the table. He also wrote countless scholarly articles, and a popular piece on U.S. History titled "The U.S. Conquers the West." He used to say, semi-humorously, that his specialty, Soviet Economics, no longer existed. He taught at the University of Kansas for 53 years after leaving the University of Alabama. He was one of the most popular professors at KU. In the later part of his career, he taught ECON 104, which is the introduction to economics course. The course attracted about 500 students every semester.