Vera C. Smith Lutz

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Vera C. Smith (Lutz), 1912-1976.

British monetary economist.

Originating from Kent, England, Vera Constance Smith enrolled at the L.S.E in 1930, then beginning its golden Robbins years. She was a research student of Friedrich A. Hayek, receiving her Ph.D in 1935. Her thesis became her famous 1936 treatise on central banking included a systematic critique of central banking system. Smith was a theoretical and doctrinal proponent of the "free banking", whereby commercial banks are permitted to issue their own currency, which circulate in competition, a topic later taken up by Hayek.

Vera Smith married the German economist Friedrich A. Lutz in April 1937, and the Lutzes moved to the United States in 1938, settling down in Princeton for the duration of the war. While Friedrich taught in the economics department, Vera took up positions as an economist at the International Finance Section of Princeton University and the League of Nations. Vera co-wrote the influential Theory of Investment with Friedrich.

The Lutzes would return to Europe in 1951, e settling in Zurich. Vera Lutz would take up a variety of research positions, e.g. the Institute for Economic Affairs.

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Major Works of Vera C. Smith (Lutz)

The Rationale of Central Banking, 1936. [lib]
Theory of Investment of the Firm, with Friedrich Lutz, 1951.
"Real and Monetary Factors in the Determination of Employment Levels", 1952, QJE
"Multiplier and Velocity Analysis: A Marriage", 1955, Economica
Italy: A study in economic development, 1963
Central Planning for the Market Economy: An analysis of the French theory and experience, 1969

HET

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Resources on Vera C. Smith Lutz

"The Macroeconomic Theory of Vera C. Lutz" by Augusto Graziani, 1983, BNLQR (pdf)
Wikiliberal

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