Giffen was born at Strathaven, Lanarkshire. He entered a solicitor's office in Glasgow, and while in that city attended courses at the university. He drifted into journalism, and after working for the Stirling Journal he went to London in 1862 and joined the staff of the Globe. He also assisted John Morley, when the latter edited the Fortnightly Review. In 1868 he became Walter Bagehot's assistant-editor on The Economist; and his services were also secured in 1873 as city editor of the Daily News, and later of The Times.
His reputation as a financial journalist and statistician, gained in these years, led to his appointment in 1876 as head of the statistical department in the Board of Trade, and subsequently he became assistant secretary (1882) and finally controller-general (1892), retiring in 1897. As chief statistical adviser to the government, he drew up reports, gave evidence before commissions of inquiry, and acted as a government auditor.
Robert Giffen continued in later years to take a leading part in all public controversies connected with finance and taxation, and his high authority and practical experience were universally recognised. He was awarded a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1895.[2] He died somewhat suddenly in Fort Augustus, Scotland on 12 April 1910.
Worksedit
Giffen published essays on financial subjects. His major publications were:
The concept of a Giffen good is named after him. Alfred Marshall wrote in the third (1895) edition of his Principles of Economics:
As Mr. Giffen has pointed out, a rise in the price of bread makes so large a drain on the resources of the poorer labouring families and raises so much the marginal utility of money to them, that they are forced to curtail their consumption of meat and the more expensive farinaceous foods: and, bread being still the cheapest food which they can get and will take, they consume more, and not less of it.
Marshall's attribution identified no corresponding passage in Giffen's writings.
On 25 March 1908, Giffen spoke at the Royal United Services Institution in London, where he predicted that a major war would shock the world credit system, which in turn would virtually halt international trade.[4] This inspired the British Admiralty's plans for economic warfare at the outbreak of the First World War.[5]
Referencesedit
R. S. Mason Robert Giffen and the Giffen Paradox, Philip Allan (1989)
Giffen, Robert (1908). "The necessity of a war chest in this country, or a greatly increased gold reserve". Royal United Services Institution. Journal. 52 (368): 1329–1353. doi:10.1080/03071840809418923.
"Our gold reserve: Necessity for a war chest," The Morning Post (London), 1908 March 26; reprinted in: James Carmichael Smith, Money and Profit-sharing: Or, The Double Standard Money System (London, England: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1908), pp. 196–200.
Lambert, Nicholas A. (2012). Planning Armageddon. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Harvard University Press. p. 115. ISBN9780674063068.
robert, giffen, navy, admiral, robert, giffen, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, boo. For the U S Navy admiral see Robert C Giffen This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Robert Giffen news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2011 Learn how and when to remove this message Sir Robert Giffen KCB FRS 22 July 1837 12 April 1910 was a Scottish statistician and economist 1 Robert GiffenBorn 1837 07 22 22 July 1837Strathaven Lanarkshire ScotlandDied12 April 1910 1910 04 12 aged 72 Fort Augustus ScotlandAlma materUniversity of GlasgowOccupation s Economist statistician Contents 1 Life 2 Works 3 References 4 Notes 5 External linksLife editGiffen was born at Strathaven Lanarkshire He entered a solicitor s office in Glasgow and while in that city attended courses at the university He drifted into journalism and after working for the Stirling Journal he went to London in 1862 and joined the staff of the Globe He also assisted John Morley when the latter edited the Fortnightly Review In 1868 he became Walter Bagehot s assistant editor on The Economist and his services were also secured in 1873 as city editor of the Daily News and later of The Times His reputation as a financial journalist and statistician gained in these years led to his appointment in 1876 as head of the statistical department in the Board of Trade and subsequently he became assistant secretary 1882 and finally controller general 1892 retiring in 1897 As chief statistical adviser to the government he drew up reports gave evidence before commissions of inquiry and acted as a government auditor Giffen was president of the Statistical Society 1882 1884 He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1891 In 1892 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1894 he received the Guy Medal gold from the RSS He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1897 Robert Giffen continued in later years to take a leading part in all public controversies connected with finance and taxation and his high authority and practical experience were universally recognised He was awarded a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1895 2 He died somewhat suddenly in Fort Augustus Scotland on 12 April 1910 Works editGiffen published essays on financial subjects His major publications were American Railways as Investments 1873 Essays on Finance 1879 and 1884 The Progress of the Working Classes 1884 The Growth of Capital 1890 The Case against Bimetallism 1892 and Economic Inquiries and Studies 1904 3 The concept of a Giffen good is named after him Alfred Marshall wrote in the third 1895 edition of his Principles of Economics As Mr Giffen has pointed out a rise in the price of bread makes so large a drain on the resources of the poorer labouring families and raises so much the marginal utility of money to them that they are forced to curtail their consumption of meat and the more expensive farinaceous foods and bread being still the cheapest food which they can get and will take they consume more and not less of it Marshall s attribution identified no corresponding passage in Giffen s writings On 25 March 1908 Giffen spoke at the Royal United Services Institution in London where he predicted that a major war would shock the world credit system which in turn would virtually halt international trade 4 This inspired the British Admiralty s plans for economic warfare at the outbreak of the First World War 5 References editR S Mason Robert Giffen and the Giffen Paradox Philip Allan 1989 A E Bateman Sir Robert Giffen Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 73 1910 pp 529 533 includes photograph F Y Edgeworth Sir Robert Griffen Economic Journal 20 1910 pp 318 321 Sir Robert Giffen Dead PDF The New York Times 13 April 1910 Notes edit Giffen Sir Robert Who s Who 738 1910 Sir Robert Giffen The Times London 13 April 1910 p 13 Review of Economic Inquiries and Studies by Sir Robert Giffen 2 vols The Oxford Magazine 23 The Proprietors 419 21 June 1905 See Giffen Robert 1908 The necessity of a war chest in this country or a greatly increased gold reserve Royal United Services Institution Journal 52 368 1329 1353 doi 10 1080 03071840809418923 Our gold reserve Necessity for a war chest The Morning Post London 1908 March 26 reprinted in James Carmichael Smith Money and Profit sharing Or The Double Standard Money System London England Kegan Paul Trench Trubner amp Co 1908 pp 196 200 Lambert Nicholas A 2012 Planning Armageddon Cambridge Massachusetts USA Harvard University Press p 115 ISBN 9780674063068 Lambert 2012 p 111 External links edit nbsp Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article Giffen Sir Robert nbsp Works by or about Robert Giffen at Wikisource Royal Society citation Giffen correspondence Attribution The main part of this entry is taken from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Robert Giffen amp oldid 1191327740, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
