Maurice Block (); 18 February 18169 January 1901) was a

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- French

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and

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

Block was born on 18 February 1816, in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, to Jewish parents. He studied at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

and the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

and received his doctorate from the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

. In the mid-1840s, he moved to Paris to become a statistician with the French ministry of agriculture. In 1853, he moved on to the General Statistic service. Beginning in 1856, Block edited ''L'Annuaire de l'economie politique et de la statistique.'' He remained the editor until 1901. Block, along with many French economists of his time, believed that economics was too complex of a subject to be amenable to mathematical techniques. He retired in 1862 and thenceforth wrote predominantly on the topics of agriculture, finance and public administration, turning to criticism of socialism in the 1890s. A prolific writer, he was published in a number of academic and professional magazines and journals of the time. He continued to devote himself to statistical studies as well. He was elected a member of the

Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 1880. He died in

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on 9 January 1901, aged 84. His principal works are: * ''Dictionnaire de l'administration francaise'' (1856) * ''Statistique de la France '' (1860) * ''Dictionnaire general de la politique'' (1862) * ''L'Europe politique et sociale'' (1869) * ''Traité theorique et pratique de statistique'' (1878) * ''Les Progres de l'economie politique depuis

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...

'' (1890) * ''Die Bevolkerung des franzosischen Kaiserreichs'' (1861) * ''Die Bevalkerung Spaniens and Portugals'' (1860) * ''Die Machtstellung der europäischen Staaten'' (1862). He wrote several books against socialism : ''Les théoriciens du socialisme en Allemagne'' (1872); ''Le socialisme moderne'' (1890). He is the author of the famous distinction between the three political lines : Orleanism, Legitimism and Bonapartism. As Adolphe Franck and Michel Breal, he is one of those Jewish Scholars who attempted to remain neutral during the Dreyfus affair.Marc Crapez, L'Antisémitisme de gauche au 19è siècle, Berg International, Paris, 2002

References

* 19th-century German economists German statisticians French statisticians 19th-century German Jews Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia to France Jewish scientists French Liberal School French classical liberal economists Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques 1816 births 1901 deaths 19th-century French economists Economists from the Kingdom of Prussia {{Germany-academic-bio-stub