Harry Gordon Johnson

Who was Harry Gordon Johnson?

Harry Gordon Johnson was a Canadian economist who studied topics such as international trade and international finance. He was Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago from 1959 until his death in 1977. He was also Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics from 1966 until 1974. And he briefly was professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva until his death. He was twice Editor of the Journal of Political Economy. Johnson was one of the most prolific economists of all time. He had a stroke at age 49 and died prematurely from a second stroke at age 53.

Nobel laureate James Tobin said about him: "For the economics profession throughout the world, the third quarter of this century was an Age of Johnson. ... It was his impact on his own profession ... that justifies calling the era his Age." Economist Jagdish Bhagwati, writing about Johnson's productivity and accessibility, said, "Countless numbers of manuscripts would reach him, from aspiring students of international economics and somehow Harry found the energy and time to read them carefully and write back to the authors promptly. ... once ... when he was staying with us, my wife asked him what he had been doing in the early hours of the morning when we had been still asleep. 'I read two manuscripts, one indifferent and the other bad; what is worse, I could have written one good paper in that time.' "