Franklin Marvin Fisher (December 13, 1934 – April 29, 2019) was an American economist. He taught economics at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...
from 1960 to 2004.
Biography
Fisher attended
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
, where he was inducted into
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
in 1955 and received a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
degree (''summa cum laude'') in 1956, followed by a
Master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in 1957 and a
Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard in 1960.
His doctoral thesis was entitled ''A Priori Information and Time Series Analysis''.
Fisher married Ellen Paradise Fisher in 1958. They had three children and eight grandchildren.
He was Teaching Fellow at Harvard from 1956 to 1957, Junior Fellow of the
Society of Fellows
The Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginnings of their careers by Harvard University for their potential to advance academic wisdom, upon whom are bestowed distinctive opportunities to foster their individual and intel ...
at Harvard (1957–59), Assistant Professor of Economics at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
(1959–60), Assistant Professor of Economics at MIT (1960–62), Associate Professor of Economics at MIT (1962–65), and Professor of Economics at MIT from 1965 to 2004. He retired as the Jane Berkowitz Carlton and Dennis William Carlton Professor of Microeconomics, Emeritus at MIT. He was a director of the
National Bureau of Economic Research
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic c ...
starting in 1989.
Fisher's fields of specialization within economics were
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 ...
,
microeconomics
Microeconomics is a branch of mainstream economics that studies the behavior of individuals and firms in making decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources and the interactions among these individuals and firms. Microeconomics fo ...
, and
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. ...
. He wrote extensively in the area of antitrust economics.
He served as an expert witness in matters involving antitrust, contract disputes, valuation, damages, and trademark infringement for many years. He was the chief economic witness for
IBM in its antitrust confrontation with the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...
, a case the Government dropped in 1982 after 13 years.
He served in a similar role on behalf of the United States Department of Justice in the case of ''
United States v. Microsoft
''United States v. Microsoft Corporation'', 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001), was a landmark American antitrust law case at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The U.S. government accused Microsoft of illegally m ...
''.
Fisher died on April 29, 2019 in
Belmont, MA from complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was 84.
Publications
Fisher was the author or co-author of hundreds of scholarly articles and many books.
He wrote books addressing antitrust issues. In 1983, he co-authored ''Folded, Spindled and Mutilated: Economic Analysis and U.S. vs. IBM''. The book is about the antitrust case ''U.S. vs. IBM'', in which Fisher was the lead expert economist for the defense.
In 1985, he edited ''Antitrust and Regulation: Essays in Memory of John J. McGowan'', which contains original essays by economists and lawyers addressing important aspects of antitrust and regulation.
He wrote a monograph sponsored by the
Econometric Society
The Econometric Society is an international society of academic economists interested in applying statistical tools to their field. It is an independent organization with no connections to societies of professional mathematicians or statisticians. ...
on the
economic theory
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyze ...
of
general equilibria and
disequilibria
In economics, economic equilibrium is a situation in which economic forces such as supply and demand are balanced and in the absence of external influences the ( equilibrium) values of economic variables will not change. For example, in the s ...
:
*
Awards
Fisher received the
John Bates Clark Medal
The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to "that American economist under the age of forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge." The award is named after the ...
in 1973.
He had been Fellow of the
Econometric Society
The Econometric Society is an international society of academic economists interested in applying statistical tools to their field. It is an independent organization with no connections to societies of professional mathematicians or statisticians. ...
since 1963 and from 1968 to 1977 he was the editor of ''
Econometrica
''Econometrica'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics, publishing articles in many areas of economics, especially econometrics. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Econometric Society. The current editor-in-chief is ...
'', Society's journal. He was President of the Econometric Society in 1979. He was also a member of the
American Economic Association
The American Economic Association (AEA) is a learned society in the field of economics. It publishes several peer-reviewed journals acknowledged in business and academia. There are some 23,000 members.
History and Constitution
The AEA was esta ...
. He had been Fellow of
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
since 1969.
References
External links
MIT Department of Economics: Franklin Fisher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Franklin M.
1934 births
2019 deaths
Economists from New York (state)
Time series econometricians
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellows of the Econometric Society
Presidents of the Econometric Society
Harvard College alumni
MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty
Scientists from New York City
Economics journal editors
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni