33,271 research outputs found
Remembering James Tobin: Stories Mostly from His Students
No full textJames Tobin was renowned as an economist of great distinction. Moreover, his students and colleagues witnessed dimensions of his personality and behavior often unknown to others. Up close, Tobin was a memorable figure who made lasting impressions on those he taught and influenced. This article describes Tobin close up, in the words of his students who became professional economists. Rather than focusing on his research, these stories instead present Tobin the teacher, both inside and out of the classroom, Tobin the person, and Tobin the friend and mentor, painting a picture of a remarkable personality. Exchange rates fluctuate very rapidly, in comparison to the prices of goods and labor. An internationally uniform tax on all spot conversions of one currency into another would reduce these fluctuations. Foreign exchange markets focus strongly on the short run, but this tax would reduce these fluctuations by increasing the cost of such transactions. It throws some sand in the wheels of short-term speculation while increasing the relative advantage of longer-term international investment flows.
James Tobin, 1918–2002
No full textProfessor James Tobin, who died on 11 March 2002, was possibly the most eminent of the world’s ‘Keynesian’ economists. Described by Nobel Laureate Paul Samuelson as “the archetype of a late-twentieth century American scholarâ€, Tobin was without doubt one of the most influential economists of his time who inspired a whole generation of students. In this interview, Professor Tobin discusses the progress and development of economics in the second half of the twentieth century.
Letters from E. L. Gould and James Tobin, 1859
No full textTrying to resolve the account of James Tobin in regards to his salary and vouchers
On Limiting the Domain of Inequality: The Legacy of James Tobin
No full textThe Keynesian macroeconomist James Tobin presented an ambitious program for social policy, sketched in the titles of "It Can be Done! Conquering Poverty in the US by 1976" (1967), "On Limiting the Domain of Inequality" (1970), "On Improving the Economic Status of the Negro" (1965), and "Raising the Incomes of the Poor" (1968). Tobin advocated means-tested cash transfers (negative income tax), to reduce poverty without interfering with market determination of relative prices (a position shared with Milton Friedman), paired with "non-market egalitarian distributions of commodities essential to life and citizenship" (education, food stamps, basic housing). The latter position contrasted with Friedman's Chicago school approach. Tobin's message continues to be relevant for reduction of poverty and inequality. Tobin's approach is contrasted with the neo-conservative analysis of the causes of poverty (exemplified by Herrnstein and Murray, but going back to Senior and Chadwick's Poor Law Report of 1834) that has been reflected in "the end of welfare as we know it".Inequality
"Why the Tobin Tax Can Be Stabilizing"
No full textThis paper clarifies why a transaction tax of the type proposed by James Tobin can have a stabilizing influence in financial markets. It argues that such a tax is potentially stabilizing, not because it reduces the "excessive" volume of transactions, but because it can slow the speed with which market traders react to price changes. To the extent that a Tobin tax causes financial market traders to delay their decisions a few "grains of sand in the wheels of international finance" can indeed be stabilizing. Whether that is sufficient, or whether boulders-not just grains-are needed to prevent speculative attacks on currencies, is, however, a different matter.
The Keynesian Root of the Tobin tax
No full textThis paper is an attempt to evaluate the strength of the link between the Tobin tax and the so-called Keynes tax, i.e. a tax on security transactions suggested by Keynes in Chapter 12 of the General Theory. Starting from a literal comparison of the two projects, this work analyses the possibility of a common methodological background. It supports the idea that the two measures share similar fundamental targets, despite displaying technical diversity.Tobin tax, Keynes tax, security transaction taxes
James Tobin : an appreciation of his contribution to economics.
No full textJim Tobin, who died on March 11, 2002 at the age of 84, was one of giants of economics of the second half of the twentieth century and the greatest macroeconomist of his generation. Tobin’s influence on macroeconomic theory is so pervasive - so much part of our professional ‘acquis’ - that many younger economists often are not even aware that it is his ideas they are elaborating, testing, criticising, refuting or re-inventing. In this Appreciation, I consider Tobin’s scholarly contributions, made over a period of more than 50 years. Tobin received the 1981 Nobel Memorial Prize “for his analysis of financial markets and their relations to expenditure decisions, employment, production and prices”. I consider his contributions to mean-variance portfolio demand and asset pricing theory, especially the Portfolio Separation Theorem; pitfalls in financial model building; portfolio balance and flow of funds models and the ‘credit channel’; the life-cycle model and social security; econometric methodology, including the Tobit estimator and his pioneering work using both time series and cross-sectional data to estimate food demand functions; economic growth; Tobin’s q; the ‘Tobin Tax’ ; the monetary and fiscal policy effectiveness debate, first with Milton Friedman and then with the New Classical Macroeconomics and Real Business Cycle schools; and Tobin’s approach to methodological questions including microfoundations and aggregation.
James Tobin: An Appreciation of his Contribution to Economics
No full textJim Tobin, who died on March 11, 2002 at the age of 84, was one of giants of economics of the second half of the twentieth century and the greatest macroeconomist of his generation. Tobin's influence on macroeconomic theory is so pervasive - so much part of our professional 'acquis' - that many younger economists often are not even aware that it is his ideas they are elaborating, testing, criticising, refuting or re-inventing. In this Appreciation, I consider Tobin's scholarly contributions, made over a period of more than 50 years. Tobin received the 1981 Nobel Memorial Prize for his analysis of financial markets and their relations to expenditure decisions, employment, production and prices'. I consider his contributions to mean-variance portfolio demand and asset pricing theory, especially the Portfolio Separation Theorem; pitfalls in financial model building; portfolio balance and flow of funds models and the 'credit channel'; the life-cycle model and social security; econometric methodology, including the Tobit estimator and his pioneering work using both time series and cross-sectional data to estimate food demand functions; economic growth; Tobin's the 'Tobin Tax'; the monetary and fiscal policy effectiveness debate, first with Milton Friedman and then with the New Classical Macroeconomics and Real Business Cycle schools; and Tobin's approach to methodological questions including microfoundations and aggregation
Letter from Thos. J. Henley to G. W. Manypenny with a letter from Jas. Tobin, 1856
No full textEnclosed a copy of a letter from James Tobin who defends for the creation of Mendocino Reserve, and the condition of the Indians living in the area
Letter from Godard Bailey to A. B. Greenwood with enclosed letter from Jas. Tobin, 1859
No full textEnclosed letter from James Tobin in connection with certain vouchers in question from the account of T.J. Henley, which were submitted for examination
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