Basil Selig Yamey

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

FBA (4 May 1919 – 9 November 2020) was a South African economist and expert in the

history of accounting The history of accounting or accountancy can be traced to ancient civilizations.Keith, Robson. 1992. “Accounting Numbers as ‘inscription’: Action at a Distance and the Development of Accounting.” ''Accounting, Organizations and Society' ...

Career

He was born in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in May 1919, and educated at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. For many years he was a professor at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. He was a part-time member of the

Monopolies and Mergers Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under UK competition law, competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competiti ...

from 1966 to 1978, and author of many books and articles, including one on the economics of underdeveloped countries co-authored with Peter Thomas Bauer. Yamey's interest in rational economic decision-making led him to study historical

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

records. Yamey rejected the claim by

Werner Sombart Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...

that the

double-entry bookkeeping system Double-entry bookkeeping, also known as double-entry accounting, is a method of bookkeeping that relies on a two-sided accounting entry to maintain financial information. Every entry to an account requires a corresponding and opposite entry to a ...

was a pre-condition, or at least an important stimulating factor, for the emergence of modern

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

. Yamey combined his interest in Accounting History with his love of art (he was a trustee of the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...

from 1974 to 1981 and of the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

, London from 1978 to 1981) in his book ''Art & Accounting'', a richly-illustrated survey of paintings portraying commercial scenes and business-people. He died in November 2020 at the age of 101.A trip down memory lane
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Selected bibliography

Journal articles

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Books

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References

External links

* * 1919 births 2020 deaths Academics of the London School of Economics 20th-century South African economists South African academics South African Jews Jewish scientists Fellows of the British Academy University of Cape Town alumni Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics South African Commanders of the Order of the British Empire South African men centenarians Jewish centenarians {{SouthAfrica-academic-bio-stub