Karl Eman Přibram (22 December 1877,
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
– 15 July 1973,
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
), also known as “Karl Pribram”, was an Austrian-born economist. He is most noted for his work in
labor economics, in
industrial organization
In economics, industrial organization is a field that builds on the theory of the firm by examining the structure of (and, therefore, the boundaries between) firms and markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complications to the perf ...
, and in the
history of economic thought.
Přibram analyzed post-
scholastic economic thought into three competing traditions:
*a
nominalist
In metaphysics, nominalism is the view that universals and abstract objects do not actually exist other than being merely names or labels. There are at least two main versions of nominalism. One version denies the existence of universalsthings th ...
tradition, which has typically provided foundations for
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
prescriptions
*an
intuitionist
In the philosophy of mathematics, intuitionism, or neointuitionism (opposed to preintuitionism), is an approach where mathematics is considered to be purely the result of the constructive mental activity of humans rather than the discovery of f ...
tradition, which formed an intellectual infrastructure for
fascistic prescriptions
*a tradition of
Hegelian dialectics
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
, which formed the intellectual infrastructure for
Marxist Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
Hi
papersare held i
of the
M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives of the libraries of
the University at Albany, the State University of New York.
Positions
*chief of the Legislative Division for Social Policy in the Austrian Ministry for Social Administration, 1918–21
*head of the research and statistical department at the
International Labour Office
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...
, Geneva, 1921–28
*professor of economics at the
University of Frankfurt am Main
Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...
, 1928–33
*research member of the
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...
, 1933–35
*member of
the U.S. Social Security Board, 1935–42
*senior economist at
the U.S. Tariff Commission, 1942–51
*professor of economics at
American University.
Works
*''Lohnschutz des gewerblichen Arbeiters nach österreichischem Recht'' (1904)
*''Normalarbeitstag in den gewerblichen Betrieben und im Bergbaue Österreichs'' (1906)
*
Entstehung der individualistischen Sozialphilosophie' (1912)
*''Probleme der internationalen Arbeitsstatistik'' (1925)
*''Unification of Social Insurance'' (1925)
*“World-unemployment and Its Problems” in ''Unemployment as a world-problem'' (1931) by
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...
, Karl Pribram, and
E.J. Phelan; edited by
Philip Quincy Wright
*“Equilibrium concept and business cycle statistics” (1934), Institut International de statistique, 22nd section, London.
*''Cartel Problems; an Analysis of Collective Monopolies in Europe with American Application'' (1935)
*''Social Insurance in Europe and Social Security in the United States: a Comparative Analysis'' (1937)
*''Merit Rating and Unemployment Compensation'' (1937)
*''Principles Underlying Disqualifications for Benefits in Unemployment Compensation'' (1938)
*''Foreign Trade Policy of Austria'' (1945)
*''Conflicting Patterns of Thought'' (1949)
*“Patterns of Economic Reasoning” in ''American Economic Review'' vol. 43 (2), Supplement (1953)
*''A History of Economic Reasoning'' (1983, posthumous and incomplete) published by the
Johns Hopkins University Press
References
*Perlman, Mark. “Perceptions of our Discipline: Three Magisterial Treatments of the Evolution of Economic Thought”, Presidential Address to HES, ''Bulletin of the History of Economics Society'', Vol. 7, No 2 (1985).
*Perlman, Mark. “An Essay on Karl Pribram's a History of Economic Reasoning”, ''Revue économique'', vol. 38 (1987) #1 (January), pp. 171–6.
1877 births
1973 deaths
Austrian economists
American University faculty and staff
Historians of economic thought
Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States
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