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Subject: D. Gale Johnson, 86, Expert in Farm Economics

Author: He was 86

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: April 17, 2003 4:43:55 EDT D. Gale Johnson, a pioneer in agricultural economics and later an expert on the Soviet Union and China, died Sunday in Amherst, Massachusettes. The cause was pneumonia related to Lou Gehrig's disease, according to his daughter, Kay Ann. Professor Johnson's career in agricultural economics began in the 1940's, when that area was producing groundbreaking work. Several of his insights presaged other notions that are now hallmarks of macroeconomics and labor economics. His study of forward prices for farm commodities foreshadowed the doctrine of rational expectations, which holds that people do not make systematic errors when forecasting repeated, uncertain outcomes, like future prices for corn. His research on farm employment helped to pave the way for the concepts of human capital — taking account of the native knowledge, skills and health of workers — and self-selection in labor markets, which is the tendency to gravitate toward work that a person finds most fitting or most enriching. He also contributed to the understanding of relative prices by explaining how farm incomes could rise even as crop prices fell, as a result of changes in productivity and labor costs. Though he did not have a strong taste for formal models of the sort posited by today's economic theorists, Professor Johnson's thinking usually cut to the core of any issue, said Yair Mundlak, an emeritus professor of agricultural economics and management at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "He was a man of a great deal of common sense, and a great deal of no-nonsense," Professor Mundlak recalled. "He was looking for the real McCoy. He wanted to go right to the point." Professor Johnson wrote more than 300 books, chapters and articles, including the Encylopaedia Britannica's entries on agricultural economics, food supply and famine. But speaking about his chosen field in an interview with the magazine of Iowa State University, his alma mater, Professor Johnson said, "Some good work has been done, but I have to say, it's a lot easier than being a farmer." David Gale Johnson was born on his parents' farm in Vinton, Iowa, and lived there until he went to college. For much of his childhood, he was one of eight students in a one-room schoolhouse. Attending high school during the Depression, he became active in debate and made presentations at farmers' meetings on New Deal programs. For one debate, he wrote to Theodore W. Schultz, a professor at Iowa State College, as the university was called then, to ask for recommendations of study materials. Professor Schultz took an interest in the young student, who soon enrolled at Iowa State. At that time, the college boasted one of the top economics departments in the nation. Professor Johnson studied under Kenneth E. Boulding, who later won the John Bates Clark medal as the nation's leading economist under 40, and two future winners of the Nobel in economic science: George J. Stigler and Professor Schultz. Professor Johnson continued his education at the University of Wisconsin and at the University of Chicago. He returned to Iowa State to finish his doctorate in 1941. Two years later, the president of Iowa State, reacting to pressure from the dairy industry, quashed the publication of a research pamphlet on the economic benefits of using margarine rather than butter during wartime. Incensed, Professor Schultz departed for the University of Chicago; Professor Johnson followed his mentor. He stayed at Chicago for virtually all of the next six decades, rising to the university's highest endowed professorship in 1970 and serving as provost from 1976 to 1980. He was a frequent adviser to the World Bank and the federal government, including stints on two presidential commissions in the Kennedy administration. According to a brief autobiography on Professor Johnson's Web site, his interest in agricultural reforms in the Soviet Union began in 1950. A similar penchant for China germinated in 1980. He became an emeritus professor in 1986 and served as director of the Center for East Asian Studies from 1993 to 1998. He received numerous professional honors and was president of the American Economic Association in 1999. Professor Johnson was married to Helen Wallace from 1938 until her death in 1990. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a son, David Wallace, of Beaver Springs, Pa., and four grandchildren. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]