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42-640: James Laurence Laughlin (April 2, 1850 – November 28, 1933) was an American economist and professor at Cornell University , Harvard University , and the University of Chicago , who helped to found the Federal Reserve System and was "one of the most ardent defenders of the gold standard ." Laughlin was born in Deerfield, Ohio on April 2, 1850. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in history. His thesis regarded " Anglo-Saxon Legal Procedure" and

84-583: A teacher puzzled many who did not pass through his classroom. He was not an original thinker of great power. He did not enrich economics. He did not even keep abreast of current developments in economic theory . He had a prim and tidy mind, which he kept in perfect order by admitting nothing that did not harmonize with the furnishings installed in the 1880s. Yet he held that a teacher's aim should be "the acquisition of independent power and methods of work, rather than specific beliefs. According to Milton Friedman (1987) Laughlin's scholarly work "was almost entirely in

126-427: A variety of major national and international firms in the financial and commercial sectors, and in manufacturing, retailing and IT, as well as in the public sector – for example, in the health and education sectors, or in government and politics . Some graduates go on to undertake postgraduate studies , either in economics, research, teacher training or further qualifications in specialist areas. Unlike most nations,

168-524: Is a formalized role. Professionals here are employed (or engaged as consultants ) to conduct research, prepare reports, or formulate plans and strategies to address economic problems. Here, as outlined, the analyst provides forecasts, analysis and advice, based upon observed trends and economic principles; this entails also collecting and processing economic and statistical data using econometric methods and statistical techniques. In contrast to regulated professions such as engineering, law or medicine, there

210-552: Is not a legally required educational requirement or license for economists. In academia, most economists have a Ph.D. degree in Economics . In the U.S. Government, on the other hand, a person can be hired as an economist provided that they have a degree that included or was supplemented by 21 semester hours in economics and three hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus. In fact, a professional working inside of one of many fields of economics or having an academic degree in this subject

252-401: Is often considered to be an economist; see Bachelor of Economics and Master of Economics . Economics graduates are employed in varying degrees depending on the regional economic scenario and labour market conditions at the time for a given country. Apart from the specific understanding of the subject, employers value the skills of numeracy and analysis, the ability to communicate and

294-517: The Democratic Party moved the latter from the support of the gold standard which had been the hallmark of the Cleveland administration to the free-silver position epitomized by 1896 presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan in his Cross of Gold speech . Bryan's 1896 candidacy was supported by Populists and "silver Republicans" as well as by most Democrats. The issue was over what would back

336-862: The UK are the more than 3500 members of the Government Economic Service . Analysis of destination surveys for economics graduates from a number of selected top schools of economics in the United Kingdom (ranging from Newcastle University to the London School of Economics ), shows nearly 80 percent in employment six months after graduation – with a wide range of roles and employers, including regional, national and international organisations, across many sectors. Some current well-known economists include: [REDACTED] The dictionary definition of economist at Wiktionary Free silver Free silver

378-540: The University of Chicago from 1892 to 1916. Notably, he appointed many economists with whom he avidly disagreed, such as Thorstein Veblen , to high positions at the university. Laughlin was a member of the Indianapolis Monetary Commission, organized in 1897, and prepared its report, one of the important documents in the history of American banking and monetary reform. The presidential election of 1896 and

420-550: The robber barons of the Gilded Age capitalism era and was referred to as the "People's Money" (as opposed to the gold-based currency, which was portrayed by the Populists as the money of "exploitation" and "oppression"). William H. Harvey's popular pamphlet Coin's Financial School , issued in the aftermath of the Panic of 1893 , illustrated the "restorative" properties of silver; through

462-463: The 11th largest decline in U.S. stock market history. The "free silver" debate pitted the pro-gold financial establishment of the Northeast, along with railroads, factories, and businessmen, who were creditors deriving benefit from deflation and repayment of loans with valuable gold dollars, against farmers who would benefit from higher prices for their crops and an easing of credit burdens. Free silver

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504-590: The President and the Department of the Treasury to regulate US silver, was completely repealed by Public Law 88-36 . Under the gold specie standard, anyone in possession of gold bullion could deposit it at a mint where it would then be processed into gold coins. Less a nominal seigniorage to cover processing costs, the coins would then be paid to the depositor; this was free coinage of gold by definition. The objective of

546-695: The US currency. The two options were gold (wanted by the "Goldbugs" and William McKinley ) and silver (wanted by the Silverites and Bryan). Unbacked paper (wanted by the Greenbacks ) represented a third option. A fourth option, a currency backed by land value, was advocated by Senator Leland Stanford through several Senate bills introduced in 1890–1892, but was always killed by the Senate Finance Committee. Three fraternal organizations rose to prominence during

588-406: The bankers, monopolists, and robber barons of the Gilded Age . Hence, it became known as the "People's Money". Supporters of an important place for silver in a bimetallic money system making use of both silver and gold , called " Silverites ", sought coinage of silver dollars at a fixed weight ratio of 16-to-1 against dollar coins made of gold. Because the actual price ratio of the two metals

630-408: The best road to national prosperity was " sound money ", or gold, which was central to international trade. They argued that inflation meant guaranteed higher prices for everyone, and real gains chiefly for the silver interests. In 1896 Senator Henry M. Teller of Colorado led many western Republicans to bolt and form a third party that supported Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan ,

672-447: The broad philosophical theories to the focused study of minutiae within specific markets , macroeconomic analysis, microeconomic analysis or financial statement analysis , involving analytical methods and tools such as econometrics , statistics , economics computational models , financial economics , regulatory impact analysis and mathematical economics . Economists work in many fields including academia, government and in

714-418: The capacity to grasp broad issues which the graduates acquire at the university or college . Whilst only a few economics graduates may be expected to become professional economists, many find it a base for entry into a career in finance – including accounting, insurance, tax and banking, or management . A number of economics graduates from around the world have been successful in obtaining employment in

756-556: The creditors such as banks and landlords. The most vocal and best-organized supporters were the silver mine owners (such as William Randolph Hearst ) and workers, and the western states and territories generally, as most U.S. silver production was based there and the region had a great number of highly indebted farmers and ranchers. Outside the mining states of the West, the Republican Party steadfastly opposed free silver, arguing that

798-415: The devaluation of the currency, closed factories would reopen, darkened furnaces would be relit, and the like. But progressive activist Henry Demarest Lloyd held a harshly critical view, writing: "The free silver movement is a fake. Free silver is the cowbird of the reform movement. It waited until the nest had been built by the sacrifices and labor of others, and then it lay its own eggs in it, pushing out

840-405: The economic turmoil surrounding it spurred the writing of the 600-page report. This report advocated for the maintenance of a decentralized approach to the banking system, an approach which proposed that banks issue their own notes backed by loans to factories, merchants and farmers. In this way, the amount of currency in circulation would automatically expand or contract with business, in contrast to

882-655: The economist profession in Brazil is regulated by law; specifically, Law № 1,411, of August 13, 1951. The professional designation of an economist, according to said law, is exclusive to those who graduated with a Bachelor of Economics degree in Brazil. According to the United States Department of Labor , there were about 15,000 non-academic economists in the United States in 2008, with a median salary of roughly $ 83,000, and

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924-538: The effective end of their independence. In major elections, free silver was consistently defeated, and after 1896 the nation moved to the gold standard. The debate over silver lasted from the passage of the Fourth Coinage Act in 1873, which demonetized silver and was called the "Crime of '73" by opponents, until 1963, when the Silver Purchase Act of 1934 (also known as Executive Order 6814 ), which allowed

966-405: The field of money and banking ." Friedman summarized: Much of it, notably his History of Bimetallism in the United States (1885) , consisted of a thorough and extremely careful presentation of historical evidence on the development of money and monetary institutions. But Laughlin also wrote extensively on monetary and banking theory, and on proposals for monetary reform. His work on these topics

1008-417: The free silver movement was that the mints should accept and process silver bullion according to the same principle, although the market value of the silver in circulating coins of the United States was substantially less than face value. As a result, the monetary value of silver coins was based on government fiat rather than on the commodity value of their contents, and this became especially true following

1050-621: The huge silver strikes in the West, which further depressed the silver price. From that time until the early 1960s the silver content in United States dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and silver dollars was worth only a fraction of their face values. Free coinage of silver would have amounted to an increase in the money supply, resulting in inflation. Many populist organizations favored an inflationary monetary policy because it would enable debtors (often farmers who had mortgages on their land) to pay their debts off with cheaper, more readily available dollars. Those who would suffer under this policy were

1092-507: The mid-1890s and supported the silver campaign in 1896. They all disappeared after the failure of the campaign. The city voters—especially German Americans—overwhelmingly rejected the free-silver cause out of the conviction that it would lead to economic disaster, unemployment, and higher prices. The diversified farmers of the Midwest and East opposed it as well, but the cotton farmers in the South and

1134-546: The monetary system of Santo Domingo . He prepared an abridgment of John Stuart Mill 's Political Economy (1884) and wrote many important books on macroeconomics and monetary policy . He died at his home in Jaffrey, New Hampshire on November 28, 1933. One of Laughlin's students at the University of Chicago was the American economist Wesley Clair Mitchell (1874–1948), who recalled: Professor Laughlin's indubitable success as

1176-485: The others which lie smashed on the ground." In 1934, the passage of the Silver Purchase Act revived the debate stirred by Grover Cleveland's 1893 repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890. The new law granted the U.S. president and U.S. secretary of treasury the authority to purchase silver, issue silver certificates, and also nationalize U.S. mines. The law also included a 50¢ tax on profits from

1218-665: The private sector, where they may also "study data and statistics in order to spot trends in economic activity, economic confidence levels, and consumer attitudes. They assess this information using advanced methods in statistical analysis, mathematics, computer programming [and] they make recommendations about ways to improve the efficiency of a system or take advantage of trends as they begin." In addition to government and academia, economists are also employed in banking , finance , accountancy , commerce , marketing , business administration , lobbying and non- or not-for profit organizations. In many organizations, an " Economic Analyst "

1260-581: The role of factors affecting specific goods and services rather than general monetary influences. Then, as now, such theories ran against the major stream of monetary analysis as exemplified in Laughlin's time by the work of Irving Fisher . As a result, his writings on theory have had no lasting influence on economic thought. Economist The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy . Within this field there are many sub-fields, ranging from

1302-435: The short-lived Silver Republican Party . The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, while falling short of free silver's goals, required the U.S. government to buy millions of ounces of silver (driving up the price of the metal and pleasing silver miners) for money (pleasing farmers and many others). However, the U.S. government paid for that silver bullion in gold notes—and actually reduced their coinage of silver. The result

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1344-530: The then existing system where notes were issued based on the procurement of government bonds. This real bills theory was in line with the aversion to centralized banking of the era, and is considered to be naive from a modern view. In 1906 Laughlin lectured, by invitation, in Berlin , and in 1909 he served as delegate to the Pan-American Scientific Congress at Santiago, Chile . From 1911 to 1913 he

1386-665: The top ten percent earning more than $ 147,040 annually. Nearly 135 colleges and universities grant around 900 new Ph.D.s every year. Incomes are highest for those in the private sector, followed by the federal government, with academia paying the lowest incomes. As of January 2013, PayScale.com showed Ph.D. economists' salary ranges as follows: all Ph.D. economists, $ 61,000 to $ 160,000; Ph.D. corporate economists, $ 71,000 to $ 207,000; economics full professors, $ 89,000 to $ 137,000; economics associate professors, $ 59,000 to $ 156,000, and economics assistant professors, $ 72,000 to $ 100,000. The largest single professional grouping of economists in

1428-520: The transfer of silver bullion and financing a "Silver Tax Stamp". After the law was passed, the U.S. Treasury paid rates for silver well over its 1934 value, achieving the hoped-for result, raising the price of silver from 45¢ to 81¢ an ounce. However, overprints on the Silver Stamp Taxes, which ranged from 1¢ to $ 1,000, also presented a problem for free, nationally owned silver. These were stamps attached to transfer memoranda to indicate payment of

1470-406: The wheat farmers in the West were enthusiastic for free silver. Bryan tried again in 1900 to raise the issue but lost by larger margins, and when he dropped the issue it fell out of circulation. Subsequent actions to revive the issue were unsuccessful. Free silver became increasingly associated with populism , unions, and the fight of ordinary Americans against the bankers, railroad monopolists, and

1512-471: Was a "run" on the U.S. Treasury's gold reserves, which was one of the many reasons for the Panic of 1893 and the onset of the 1890s Depression. Once he regained power, and after the Panic of 1893 had begun, Grover Cleveland engineered the repeal of the act, setting the stage for the key issue of the next presidential election. The Populist Party had a strong free-silver element. Its subsequent combination with

1554-439: Was a major economic policy issue in the United States in the late 19th century. Its advocates were in favor of an expansionary monetary policy featuring the unlimited coinage of silver into money on-demand, as opposed to strict adherence to the more carefully fixed money supply implicit in the gold standard . Free silver became increasingly associated with populism , unions, and the perceived struggle of ordinary Americans against

1596-789: Was chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Citizens League for the Promotion of a Sound Banking System. Under his leadership the league promoted banking reform in the United States. In addition to teaching, he edited the Journal of Political Economy from 1892 to 1933, but refused to become a member of the American Economic Association because of differences in philosophy. He advised various state and national governments on economic matters, including overhauling

1638-751: Was especially popular among farmers in the Wheat Belt (the western Midwest) and the Cotton Belt (the Deep South ), as well as silver miners in the West. It had little support among farmers in the Northeast and the Corn Belt (the eastern Midwest). Free silver was the central issue for Democrats in the presidential elections of 1896 and 1900 , under the leadership of William Jennings Bryan , famed for his Cross of Gold speech in favor of free silver. The Populists also endorsed Bryan and free silver in 1896, which marked

1680-507: Was marred by a dogmatic and rigid opposition to the quantity theory of money, an opposition that developed out of his public activities opposing the free silver movement . The proponents of free silver used a crude form of the quantity theory to support their position, which sufficed to render the theory anathema to Laughlin. And furthermore: Laughlin's attack on the quantity theory had much in common with recent cost-push or structural or supply-shock theories of inflation , in emphasizing

1722-545: Was substantially higher in favor of gold at the time, most economists warned that the less valuable silver coinage would drive the more valuable gold out of circulation . While all agreed that an expanded money supply would inevitably inflate prices, the issue was whether this inflation would be beneficial or not. The issue peaked from 1893 to 1896, when the economy was suffering from a severe depression characterized by falling prices ( deflation ), high unemployment in industrial areas, and severe distress for farmers. It ranks as

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1764-452: Was supervised by Henry Adams . The other members of his program were Henry Cabot Lodge and Ernest Young. A conservative, he generally subscribed to the economic theories of John Stuart Mill and opposed bimetallism . Laughlin taught at Harvard University in Boston for five years, at Cornell University for two years, and then became the department-head of the new economics department at

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