Profile Major Works Resources

Edward Atkinson, 1827-1905.


Influential American journalist and economist.

Originating from Brookline, Massachusetts, Edward Atkinson attended private schools in his youth.  He obtained his Ph.D. from Dartmouth and an LL.D. from South Carolina.  It was in South Carolina, where he came under the influence of Francis Lieber.

Originating from Massachusetts, Edward Atkinson was largely a free trader and hard money man, and widely seen as a spokesman for the New England commercial and manufacturing interests, notably in cotton textiles and later insurance.  Atkinson served as the economic advisor to Hugh McCulloch, Sec of the Treasury in the immediate aftermath of the civil war. A 'hard money' man, Atkinson was behind plans for the resumption of convertibility of national banknotes to specie, but insisted that banks should be allowed to suspend payment if caught in trouble.  He also opposed Carey's calls

In 1877 he became president of the Boston Manufacturers' Fire Insurance Company, a post he held until his death.  In 1887, he was appointed a special commission on bimetallism in Europe.  He was active in the Anti-Imperialism League and invented the "Aladdin oven" a kerosene-fueled heat-efficient oven.

 

  


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Major Works of Edward Atkinson

  • [Anon] Cheap Cotton by Free Labor, by a "Cotton Manufacturer", 1861 [bk]
  • On the Collection of Revenue, 1867 [bk]
  • [E.A.] Senator Sherman's Fallacies, or honesty the best policy, 1868 [bk]
  • Dominion of Iron and Coal: what it stands for, 1871 [bk]
  • How to Pay for the Hoosac Tunnel, 1873 [bk]
  • Argument of Edward Atkinson, before the Railway Committee, Against the State undertaking to buy, equip, or operate railroads. March, 1873, 1873 [bk]
  • An Argument for the Conditional Repeal of the Legal-Tender Act, 1874 [bk]
  • "Industrial Reconstruction", 1878, International Review, p.530
  • Labor and Capital Allies Not Enemies, 1879 [bk]
  • Cotton and Cotton Manufactures in the United States, 1880 [bk]
  • The Railroads of the United States: A potent factor in the politics of that Country and of Great Britain, 1880 [bk]
  • The Right Methods of Preventing Fires in Mills, 1881
  • What is a Bank? What service does a bank perform? A lecture given before the Finance Club of Harvard University, March 1880, 1881 [bk]
  • Address at Opening of Second Annual Fair of the New England Manufacturers and Mechanics Institute, 1882 [bk]
  • "The Railway, the Farmer and the Public", 1884, Manufacturers' Gazette, (Aug) [offp]
  • The Distribution of Products, or the Mechanism and the Metaphysics of Exchange: three essays, 1885 [1888 3rd ed]
  • Addresses upon the Labor Question, 1886 [bk]
  • "What is Bimetallism?", 1887, in Aktinson's Bimetallism in Europe: Report, 1887 [bk, bk]
  • The Margin of Profits: how it is now divided, what part of the present hours of labor can now be spared, 1887 [bk]
  • The Industrial Progress of the Nation: consumption limited, production unlimited, 1890 [bk]
  • "The Single Tax: Final Remarks", 1890, J of Social Science (Oct), p.122. (ASSA debate on the Single Tax of Henry George)
  • Taxation and Work: A series of treatises on the tariff and the currency, 1892 [bk]
  • "Discussion on Walker's Value of Money", 1894, Pub AEA (Jan), p.51 [js]
  • Suggestions regarding the cooking of food, 1894 [bk]
  • "Edward Atkinson on Bimetallism", 1894, Rhodes' Journal of Banking, (Apr), p.315 (debate with E.B. Andrews)
  • "Reply to Andrews's Case for Bimetallism", 1894  Rhodes' Journal of Banking,  (Jun), p.549
  • The Banking Principle: A paper on banking in its relation to note issues, 1895 [bk]
  • The Science of Nutrition, 1896 [bk]
  • The Future Situs of the Principal Iron Production of the World: Where is It? 1896 [bk]
  • The Development of the Resources of the Southern States: An Address to the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, 1898 [bk]
  • The Cost of a National Crime, 1898
  • The Hell of War and Its Penalties, 1898
  • Criminal Aggression, by whom committed?, 1899
  • "The Interdependence of Nations", 1899, Official Proceedings of the International Commercial Congress, 1899, p.20 [offpr]
  • The Prevention of Loss by Fire: Fifty years' record of Factory Mutual Insurance, based on thirty-five years' personal experience; with suggestions for the protection of cities from conflagrations, 1900 [bk]
  • Outlook for Iron in the Next Ten Years, 1901
  • The Protective Tariff: Testimony before the United State Industrial Commission, May 10, 1901, 1901 [bk]
  • The Cost of War and Warfare, from 1898 to 1902, inclusive: Seven hundred million dollars, $700,000,000, 1902 [bk]
  •  Facts and Figures the Basis of Economic Science, 1904 [bk]

 


HET

 

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Resources on  Edward Atkinson

  • "Review of Atkinson's Industrial Progress of the Nation", by Richmond Mayo-Smith, 1890, PSQ (Jun), p.330 [js]
  • "Recent Literature on Protection", by F.W. Taussig, 1893, QJE (Jan) p.162-76 [js]
  • "Atkinson, Edward", 1888, Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography
  • "Atkinson, Edward", 1899, National Cyclopedia of American Biography, v.9
  • "Atkinson, Edward" in 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  • Atkinson papers guide at Massachusetts Historical Society
  • Atkinson's Aladdin oven at Tutorial
  • "A Boston Magician" by Anna C. Carey, 1891, The Chautauquan, p.85
  • Aladdin oven article in 1974 Mother Earth News
  • Wiki

 

 
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