Profile Major Works Resources

Sir Dennis H. Robertson, 1890-1963.

Portrait of D.H.Robertson
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Dennis Holme Robertson had the classical life of an Edwardian gentleman: graduated from Eton, read classics at Trinity College, Cambridge, fought in World War I, returned as a fellow to Cambridge, worked at the Treasury during World War II and finally was knighted.    However traditional his life may have been, Robertson's work has tended to be more brave and eclectic. Although often considered a staunch Marshallian at Cambridge, Robertson's inspiration was more "Continental" in origin.  He introduced a business cycle theory (1915) in the Continental tradition and his highly successful little 1922 textbook and his more elaborate 1926 volume on monetary theory was littered with insights derived from Knut Wicksell and the Stockholm School (as well as quotations from Alice in Wonderland - a perennial Robertsonian habit).  In 1937, Robertson engaged his old friend John Maynard Keynes in a famous debate over the savings-investment relationship in the General Theory. 

 

  

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Major works of Dennis H. Robertson

  • A Study of Industrial Fluctuations, 1915 [bk, av].
  • "Economic Incentive", 1921, Economica.
  • Monetary Policy, being the Report of a Sub-Committee on Currency and the Gold Standard,  with J.H. Clapham, C.W. Guillebaud, and F. Lavington, 1921, [av]
  • Money, 1922. [bk, av, av, hth]
  • The Control of Industry, 1923.
  • "Those Empty Boxes", 1924, EJ.
  • Banking Policy and the Price Level, 1926.
  • "Increasing Returns and the Representative Firm", 1930, EJ.
  • "Saving and Hoarding", 1933, EJ.
  • "Some Notes on Mr Keynes's "General Theory of Employment"", 1936, QJE.
  • "Alternative Theories of the Rate of Interest", 1937, EJ.
  • "Mr Keynes and Finance: A note", 1938, EJ.
  • "Mr. Keynes and the Rate of Interest", 1940, in Robertson, 1940, below.
  • Essays in Monetary Theory, 1940.
  • "Wage Grumbles", 1949 in Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution.
  • Utility and All That, 1952.
  • Britain in the World Economy, 1954.
  • Economic Commentaries, 1956.
  • Lectures on Economic Principles, 1957-9.
  • Growth, Wages, Money, 1961.
  • Essays in Money and Interest, 1966.

 
HET

 
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Resources on Dennis H. Robertson

  • Dennis H. Robertson archives at Trinity College, Cambridge
  • Portrait of the Cambridge Trio (Sraffa, Keynes and Robertson).
  • "Review of Robertson's Study in Industrial Fluctuation", by Wesley C. Mitchell, 1916, AER
  • "Dennis H. Robertson and the monetary approach to exchange rates" by Thomas M. Humphrey, FRB Richmond [pdf]
  • "Dennis Robertson on Utility and Welfare in the 1950s" by Mauro Boianovksy [pdf]
  • "Dennis Robertson on Industrial Society: The Control of Industry reexamined" by Hiroyuki Shmodaira, 2008 [pdf]
  • Understanding Dennis Robertson: The Man and His Work by Gordon A. Fletcher, 2000
  • Dennis Robertson, by Gordon A. Fletcher, 2008
  • Robertson Page at Britannica.com
  • Wikipedia

 

 
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