Profile Major Works Resources

Charles P. Kindleberger, 1910-2003.

American monetary and trade economist and economic historian at M.I.T.

Charles Poor Kindleberger originated from a patrician family in New York. He studied as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving his B.A. in 1932, and subsequently received his Ph.D. from Columbia during its Institutionalist heyday, in 1937 under J.W. Angell.. 

Kindleberger started his career in the Federal Reserve system, initially at the FRB in New York (1934-1939) then, with a year's interruption at the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, at the  Federal Reserve Board in Washington DC (1940-42).  During World War II, Kindleberger worked at the Office of Strategic Services (ancestral to the CIA), both in Washington and abroad (London, and with the US army in Europe).  After the war, Kindleberger remained with the US government, at the State Department, working on issues related to European reconstruction..

In 1948, Kindleberger left government service and moved into academia, joining the faculty at M.I.T where he would remain for the remainder of his career.

From his earliest days at the Fed, Kindleberger carved out a corner as a foremost expert on international conomics, with numerous works on foreign exchange markets, international capital flows, trade multipliers.  Kindleberger authored a highly-successful textbook, International Economics (1953), going through multiple editions, which would remain standard in the field for many decades.

Later works take on a  more historical tone, with examinations of the experience of European reconstruction, and monetary and financial history.  Kindleberger is perhaps best known for his popular Manias, Panics and Crashes, which continues to be reprinted with much relevance every few years.

 

  


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Major Works of Charles P. Kindleberger

  • "The Theory of Inflation and Foreign Trade", 1934, in H.P. Willis & J.M. Chapman, Economics of Inflation.
  • "Flexibility of Demand in International Trade", 1937, QJE.
  • International Short-Term Capital Movements, 1937 [1965 ed, avbor]
  • "Speculation and Forward Exchange", 1939, JPE.
  • Britain's Trade in the Post-War World, 1941, NPA pamphlet No.9 (Dec) [hth]
  • "The Economic Tasks of the Postwar World" with Alvin H. Hansen, 1942, Foreign Affairs.
  • "International Monetary Stabilization", 1943, in S.E. Harris, editor, Postwar Economic Problems.
  • "Planning for Foreign Investment", 1943, AER.
  • "The Foreign-Trade Multiplier: The propensity to import and balance-of-payments equilibrium", 1949, AER.
  • "Review of Wilcox's Charter for World Trade", 1949, REStat.
  • The Dollar Shortage, 1950 [av]
  • "Bretton Woods Reappraised", 1951, International Organization. [pdf]
  • "Group Behavior and International Trade", 1951, JPE.
  • "Review of Wallich's Monetary Problems of an Export Economy", 1952, REStat.
  • "Review of IBRD's Economy of Turkey, etc.", 1952, REStat.
  • International Economics, 1953 [hth] [1958 2nd ed, 1963 3rd ed, 1968 4th ed., 1973 5th ed. avbor], [1978 6h ed. and after with Peter H. Lindert, avbor]
  • "Economists in International Organizations", 1955, International Organization [pdf]
  • "Review of Thorp's Trade, Aid or What?", 1955, REStat.
  • Terms of Trade: A European case study, 1956
  • "The Objectives of United States Economic Assistance Programs", 1957, US Senate Special Committee to study the Foreign Aid Program, No.1. [bk]
  • "Partial vs. General Equilibrium in International Trade", 1957, Indian JE.
  • Economic Development, 1958 [1965 2nd ed, avbor; 1977 3rd ed, avbor]
  • "The Dollar Shortage Re-revisited", 1958, AER.
  • "New Trade Channels", 1959, Challenge (Feb).
  • "United States Economic Foreign Policy: Research Requirements for 1965", 1959, World Politics.
  • "Statement on Employment, Growth and Price Levels", 1959, Hearings before the Joint Economic Committee, US Congress, Part 5 - International influences on the American economy (Jun-Jul), p.950.
  • "International Political Theory from Outside", in W.Fox, editor, Theoretical Aspects of International Relations.
  • "The Technical Basis of Economic Integration", 1960, World Politics (Apr).
    "The Comparative Statics of United States Foreign Trade - United States Commercial Policy", 1960, in R.E. Freeman, editor, Postwar Economic Trends in the United States.
  • "Le fin du rôle dominant des États Unis et l'avenir d'une politique économique mondiale", 1961, Cahiers de ISEA.
  • "Statement on the Problem of World Liquidity and Payments", 1961, in Hearings before the Subcommittee on International Exchange and Payments of the Joint Economic Committee, US Congress, International Payment Imbalances and Need for Strengthening Financial Arrangements (May-June), p.283.
  • Foreign Trade and the National Economy, 1962 [avbor]
  • "The Postwar Resurgence of the French Economy", 1963, in Hoffman et al, In Search of France.
  • "Review of Gerschenkron's Economic Backwardness", 1963, JEH.
  • Economic Growth in France and Britain, 1851-1950,  1964 [avbor] [1969 ed, avbor]
  • "Balance of Payments Deficits and the International Market for Liquidity", 1965,  Essays in International Finance, No.46 (May).  [pdf]
  • "Trends in International Economics", 1965, AAPSS.
  • "The United States Balance of Payments in the Nineteenth Century: A review article", 1965, Explorations in Entrepreneurial History,
  • "Emigration and Economic Growth", 1965, BNLQR [psl, psl]
  • "The Dollar and World Liquidity. A Minority View" with Emile Despres and Walter S. Salant, 1966, The Economist (Feb 5), [pdf]
  • Europe and the Dollar, 1966 [avbor]
  • "The International Firm and the International Capital Market", 1967, Southern EJ.
  • Europe's Postwar Growth: the role of the labor supply, 1967 [avbor]
  • "The Politics of International Money and World Language", 1967, Essays in International Finance, No.61 (Aug) [pdf].
  • American Business Abroad: six lectures on direct investment, 1969 [avbor]
  • "Measuring Equilibrium in the Balance of Payments", 1969, JPE.
  • "The Eurodollar and the Internationalization of United States monetary policy", 1969, BNLQR [psl, psl]
  • "Introduction", 1970, in C.P. Kindleberger, editor, International Corporation: A symposium. [avbor]
  • Power and Money: the economics of international politics and the politics of international economics, 1970 [avbor]
  • "The Dollar System", 1970, New England ER.
  • "Review of Mundell & Swoboda's Monetary Problems", 1971, JIE.
  • "Origins of United States Direct Investment in France", 1973, MIT working paper for Colloquium of French Association of Economic Historians [av, mit]
  • The World in Depression, 1929-1939, 1973 [avbor]  [1986 revised ed, avbor], [2013 ed avbor] [ch.14 pdf]
  • "The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi", 1974, Daedalus. [jstor]
  • "The Formation of Financial Centers: A study in comparative economic history", 1974, Princeton Studies in International Finance, No.36 [pdf, avbor] [MIT 1973 wp av, mit].
  • "Use of Libraries by Economists", 1974, MIT Working Paper [av, mit]
  • "Commercial Expansion and the Industrial Revolution", 1975, MIT Working paper [av, mit]
  • "Scientific Education and the French Entrepreneur", 1975, MIT Working paper [av, mit]
  • "The Rise of Free Trade in Western Europe, 1820-1875", 1975, JEH [1974 MIT wp av, mit]
  • "Germany's Overtaking of Britain, 1806-1914", 1975, WWA [reprinted in Economic Response, 1978]
  • "Lessons of Floating Exchange Rates", 1976, CROCH
  • "Review of H.G. Johnson's Economics and Society", 1976, J of Business.
  • "Germany’s persistent balance-of-payments disequilibrium revisited", 1976, BNLQR [psl]
  • "Two Hundred Years of American Foreign Policy: US foreign policy, 1776-1976", 1977, Foreign Affairs [online]
  • America in the World Economy, 1977, Foreign Policy Association, [avbor]
  • "Internationalist and Nationalist Models in the Analysis of the Brain Drain: Progress and Unresolved problems", 1977, Minerva.
  • Economic Response: Comparative studies in trade, finance and growth, 1978
  • Manias, Panics and Crashes: A history of financial crises, 1978 [avbor], [1989 2nd ed avbor, 1996 3rd ed, avbor; 2000 4th ed. avbor][2005 5th ed. with R.Z. Aliber, pdf], [2011 6th ed, avbor] [audio]
  • "Government and International Trade", 1978, Essays in International Finance (Jul) [pdf]
  • "The OECD and the Third World", 1978, in From Marshall Plan to Global Interdependence.
  • "Review of McKinnon's Money in International Exchange", 1980, JPE.
  • "Myths and Realities of Foward Exchange Markets", 1980, in Chipman and Kindleberger, editors, Flexible Exchange Rates and the Balance of Payments.
  • "The Life of an Economist", 1980, BNLQR (Sep) [psl; psl]
  • "Dominance and Leadership in the International Economy: Exploitation, Public Goods, and Free Rides", 1981, ISQ.
  • International Money: a collection of essays, 1981 [avbor]
  • "Review of Brunner's Great Depression Revisited", 1981, JPE.
  • "Assets and Liabilities of International Economics: The Postwar Bankruptcy of Theory and Policy", 1982, in F. Caffe, editor, Economic Notes: Experiences and Problems of the International Monetary System, 1972–1982.
  • The Multinational Corporations of the 1980s, with D.B. Audretsch, 1983
  • "The American Origins of the Marshall Plan: a view from the State Department", 1984, in S. Hoffmann and C. Maier, editors, Marshall Plan: A retrospective
  • A Financial History of Western Europe, 1984 [avbor], [1993 2nd ed avbor]
  • Multinational Excursions,1984 [avbor]
  • "The Dollar Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow", 1985, BNLQR [psl]
  • Keynesianism vs Monetarism and Other essays on financial history, 1985
  • International Capital Movements: based on the Marshall Lectures, given at the University of Cambridge 1985, 1987 [avbor].
  • Marshall Plan Days, 1987 [avbor]
  • "The 1930s and the 1980s: Parallels and Differences", 1988, BNLQR [psl]
  • The International Economic Order: Essays on financial crisis and international public goods, 1988
  • Economic Laws and Economic History, 1989 (Matteoli lectures) [avbor]
  • Spenders and Hoarders: the world distribution of Spanish American silver, 1550-1750, 1989 [avbor].
  • The German Economy 1945-47: Charles P. Kindleberger's letters from the field, 1990
  • Historical Economics: Art or science?, 1990 [avbor]
  • Life of an Economist: an autobiography, 1991 [avbor]
  • "International (and interregional) aspects of financial crises", 1991, in M. Feldstein editor, The Risk of Economic Crisis.
  • Mariners and Markets, 1992
  • "My Working Philosophy", 1992 in Szenberg, Eminent Economists
  • "Asset inflation and monetary policy", 1995, BNLQR (Mar) [psl]
  • World Economy and National Finance in Historical Perspective, 1995 [avbor]
  • World Economic Primacy, 1500-1990, 1996 [avbor]
  • "Marshall Plan Commemorative Section: In the Halls of the Capitol: A Memoir", 1997, Foreign Affairs [online]
  • "Economic and financial crises and transformations in sixteenth-century Europe", 1998, Essays in International Finance (June) [pdf]
  • "The Price Level and Monetary Policy", 2002, BNLQR (Mar) [psl]

 


HET

 

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Resources on  Charles Kindleberger

  • Charles P. Kindleberger page at MIT
  • Kindleberger obituary at MIT
  • Kindleberger obituary at NY Times, 2003
  • Kindleberger oral history at Truman Library
  • "Charles P. Kindleberger" by Stanley Fischer, 2008, Amer Phil Society [pdf]
  • "Charles Kindleberger: an impressionist in a minimalist world" by Edward J. Kane, 2004 [nber]
  • "The Rise and Fall of Economic History at MIT" by Peter Temin, 2013 [mit]
  • Perry Mehrling (2022) Money and Empire: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System. Cambridge University Press.
  • Wikipedia

 

 
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