Sir Arnold Plant (29 April 1898 – 19 April 1978) was a British

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

Biography

Plant was born in

Hoxton, London Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End of London, East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was Historic counties of England, histori ...

, the son of a municipal librarian, William Charles Plant, and Thomasine Emily Plant. Coase, Ronald H. (1995). "12: Arnold Plant". ''Essays on Economics and Economists''. University of Chicago Press. pp. 176–184. . After attending

Strand School Strand School was a boys' grammar school in the Tulse Hill area of South London. It moved there in 1913 from its original location at King's College in London's Strand. Distinguished in its heyday for its contribution of young men to the civil ...

, he worked for a mechanical engineering organisation. At the advice of William Piercy, he set out to learn about management. He obtained a

BCom A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanma ...

degree (1922) and a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in Economics (1923; specialising in modern economic history) from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. He worked as a professor at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

(1923–1930) and at the London School of Economics (1930–1965). Plant's 1934 paper on

patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

, "The Economic Theory Concerning Patents for Inventions", is considered a classic. In 1947, he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

. He died in 1978. His widow, Edith, Lady Plant, died a decade later.

Published work (selection)

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References

External links

Arnold Plant Collection
at the

British Library of Political and Economic Science The British Library of Political and Economic Science, commonly referred to as "LSE Library", is the main library of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). It is one of the largest libraries in the world devoted to the eco ...

1898 births 1978 deaths English economists Knights Bachelor People from Hoxton Alumni of the London School of Economics {{UK-economist-stub