Allan George Barnard Fisher
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Allan George Barnard Fisher (26 Oct 1895 in
Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
, New Zealand – 8 January 1976 in
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, England) was a New Zealand-born economist. Perhaps his most notable contribution was to investigate economic development in terms of the sequential dominance of different sectors of the economy: the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors (
three-sector theory The three-sector model in economics divides economies into three sectors of activity: extraction of raw materials (primary), manufacturing (secondary), and service industries which exist to facilitate the transport, distribution and sale o ...
).Hogan, W. 2002, 'A.G.B. Fisher: Trans-Tasman Economist', ''History of Economic Thought Society of Australia Conference in History of Economic Thought Society of Australia Conference''.


Biography

Allan was born in New Zealand but moved with his parents to Australia, where he attended the Scotch College and the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...
. From 1916 to early 1918, Allan served in the
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...
at the 14th Australian General Hospital at Cairo and Port Said, later moving to Palestine and spending 5 months on the Jaffa-Jerusalem road with the Australian 5th Camel Corps Field Ambulance. On his return to the University of Melbourne in 1919 he became a lecturer in the philosophy department. He gave a talk on "Palestine and Jerusalem", copies of which are in the University of Melbourne Library and the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
. In 1924 he gained his PhD from the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
. The notes he made on lectures attended are in the LSE archives. He returned to Australia in 1925 and was Professor of Economics at the
University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate ...
from 1925 to 1935. In 1930 and 1931 Allan was awarded a
Rockefeller Fellowship The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Ca ...
, which enabled him to travel and study in China,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, Poland, Geneva, England and the United States. During 1936–1937, Allan was Professor of Economics at the
University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...
in Perth. In 1938 the family moved to England, when Allan accepting the Price Research Professorship at the
Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...
, familiarly known as Chatham House, in London and became Professor of International Economics in London. This involved trips to Scandinavia and the Balkans, and in 1939, the family moved to
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. Lectures given by AGB Fisher are included in a special online archive issue from Chatham house. 1934 Alan became chief editor, Economist,
Bank of New South Wales The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and N ...
. During the War, he paid two visits to the United States, to an F.A.O. preparatory commission and 1944 was Counsellor at the New Zealand Legation in Washington D.C. He also attended the
Bretton Woods Conference The Bretton Woods Conference, formally known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was the gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, situated in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, Unite ...
as well as the 1946 Paris Peace Conference, before taking up his job later that year, on the staff of the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
. Allan retired in 1960 and lived in England for the remainder of his life.


Selected publications

* ''Some Problems of Wages and Their Regulation'', P. S. King & Son, 1926. *''The Clash of Progress and Security'', Macmillan, 1935. * ''Economic self-sufficiency'', The Clarendon Press (Oxford, England), 1939.
International problems of economic change
by Allan G. B. Fisher, March–April 1938,
The constitution and work of UNRRA
by Allan G. B. Fisher, July 1944,
International collaboration and the economic and social council
by Allan G. B. Fisher, October 1945 * ''Economic Progress and Social Security'', Macmillan, 1945. * ''International Implications of Full Employment'', Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1946. * (With son
Humphrey J. Fisher
C. Hurst, 1970, Doubleday, 1971. * (Editor and translator with Humphrey J. Fisher
Gustav Nachtigal, Sahara and Sudan, Volume IV: Wadai and Darfur
University of California Press, 1972
Volume I: Tripoli and Fezzan, Tibesti or Tu
Barnes & Noble, 1974. * Fisher, Allan GB. "Production, primary, secondary and tertiary." ''Economic Record'' 15.1 (1939): 24–38.


References


External links


Lectures
hosted by Chatham House
Fisher's lecture notes, the LSE Archive

"Palestine and Jerusalem"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Allan George Barnard 1895 births 1976 deaths New Zealand economists People from Christchurch University of Western Australia faculty Alumni of the London School of Economics University of Otago faculty Australian Army personnel Australian military personnel of World War I Chatham House people Military personnel from Christchurch