Gunnar Myrdal is one of the most influential figures in economic history. He was not only an economist but also a politician. His contributions towards the discipline of economics has not only enriched the subject but also has helped solve many problems regarding applied economics. This economist dominated the economic sphere till a long time and ahs made valuable contributions.
Personal Life and Educational Background
Karl Gunnar Myrdal was born in Gustaf's parish, Sweden, on December 6, 1898. He completed his graduation from the Law School of Stockholm University in 1923 and began practicing law while continuing his studies at the university. Myrdal received his doctorate degree in economics in 1927 and was appointed as a docent in political economy. From 1925 to 1929 he studied in stints in Germany and Britain. After these spells he received the fellowship from the Rockefeller Institute and went on his first trip to the United States in1929-1930. During this period, he also published his first books, including ‘The Political Element in the Development of Economic Theory’. He married Alva Reimer who was the Swedish Ambassador to India and has also been minister in Sweden.
Myrdal’s Career
After collecting his doctorate degree he returned to Europe. He first joined the Post Graduate Institute of International Studies which is in Geneva, Switzerland as an Associate Professor for one year. In 1933 he was anointed a successor of Gustav Cassel to the Lars Hierta Chair of Political Economy and Public Finance at the Stockholm University. Moreover, Professor Myrdal actively took part in Swedish politics and was elected to the Senate in 1934 as member of the Social Democratic Party. In 1938, the Carnegie Corporation of New York commissioned him to conduct a study on the American Negro predicament. The material which he gathered and interpreted was published in 1944 as the landmark book 'An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy'. He was re-elected to the Swedish Senate, served as member of the Board of the Bank of Sweden, and was Chairman of the Post-War Planning Commission in Sweden during 1942. From 1945-1947, he was Sweden's Minister of Commerce, a position which he left to accept the most prestigious role of the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. In 1957, he quit his job to direct a comprehensive study of economic trends and policies in South Asian countries for the Twentieth Century Fund. This study culminated into a book named as 'Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations and The Challenge of World Poverty. A World Anti-Poverty Program in Outline'. In1961, he returned to become the professor of International Economic Studies at the Stockholm University. He was Chairman of the Board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). He also chaired the Board of the Latin American Institute in Stockholm. During the year 1973-1974, he was visiting Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at Santa Barbara, California, and during the period of 1974-1975, he was the Distinguished Visiting Professor at New York City University.
Contribution to Economics
Myrdal’s most significant contribution to the world of economics was the Book, An American Dilemma which is considered as a classic in Sociology. The book is a critique on the dichotomy of American society which has set lofty ideals for itself but has never been able to live up to those ideals. This book is based on a comprehensive research done by Myrdal on the racial relations in US. This book was also instrumental in the verdict of Supreme Court against the racial discrimination. Myrdal was a believer of egalitarianism. He had singled out two of the policies namely: restrictions on agricultural output and minimum wage. In this book Mrydal showed that all the policies taken up by the government has ultimately ended up in worsening the conditions of the black in the country and how the practice of minimum labor has adversely affected the Afro-Americans.
Awards received by Mrydal
Professor Mrydal has received more than thirty awards in his lifetime. The first was the award from the Harvard University in 1938 and the last one being the Malionowski award by the Society of Applied Anthropology. He received the Nobel Prize in 1974 for ‘pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena’.
Major Works by Myrdal
He has written many books which are all of equal importance in the field of economics. They are:
The Equality Issue in World Development - The American Economic Review, vol 79
Gunnar Myrdal on Population Policy in the Underdeveloped World – Population and Development Review, Vol 13
Twenty Years of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe – International Organization, Vol 22
Social Trends in America and Strategic Approaches to the Negro Problem – Phylon, Vol. 9
Population, a Problem for Democracy The Godkin Lectures, Published by Harvard University Press
The Political Element in the Development of Economic Theory