Edwin Griswold Nourse (May 20, 1883 – April 7, 1974) was an American economist who served as the first chairman of the

Council of Economic Advisers The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the President of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical rese ...

from 1946 to 1949.

Biography

Born in

Lockport, New York Lockport is both a city and the town that surrounds it in Niagara County, New York. The city is the Niagara county seat, with a population of 21,165 according to 2010 census figures, and an estimated population of 20,305 as of 2019. Its name d ...

, Nourse moved to a western suburb of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

at the age of four months, and considered himself a Midwesterner. His father worked in the city as a supervisor of public school music. His sister,

Alice Tisdale Hobart Alice Tisdale Hobart (January 28, 1882 – March 14, 1967) born Alice Nourse in Lockport, New York, was an American novelist. Her most famous book, '' Oil for the Lamps of China'', which was also made into a film, drew heavily on her experiences ...

, went on to become a bestselling novelist. In high school Nourse enjoyed English and history, and after spending a year at the Louis Institute, went on to

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

with an interest in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

. In 1903 he was caught in a wave of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...

that hit campus; upon his return he decided to simply get his A.B., but also took several classes at the College of Agriculture. Following college, Nourse taught for two years in high school, spent a year on graduate studies, and then came to teach at the

Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

, where he conceived of

agricultural economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and Natural fiber, fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of econom ...

. From there he transited through the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship uni ...

, the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkans ...

, Iowa State College, and on to 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 ...

, where he received his Ph.D in 1915 for the dissertation "The Chicago Produce Market: A Study of Market Mechanism as a Factor in Price Determination". He continued to study and write about

agricultural cooperation An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity. A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural service cooperativ ...

. Nourse was a friend of

Harold Moulton Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts ...

, the first president 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 ...

, and in 1923 he convinced Nourse to come work on the agriculture side of the Institute of Economics. He remained there until 1946, moving from the head of the agriculture division to director of Institute of Economics in 1929 and then vice president in 1942. Two years later in July he met President Harry S. Truman for the first time by way of Charles Griffith Ross to speak about becoming member of the newly created

Council of Economic Advisors The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the President of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...

; Nourse subsequently resigned from Brookings to become its first chairman, with

Leon Keyserling Leon Hirsch Keyserling (January 11, 1908 – August 9, 1987) was an American economist and lawyer who served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1950 to 1953. During his tenure, he advised President Harry S. Truman on the economi ...

as his vice-chairman and John D. Clark as a member.

Selected publications

* Nourse, E. G., Tryon, F. G., Drury, H. B., Leven, M., Moulton, H. G., & Lewis, C. ''America's capacity to produce.'' 1934. * Nourse, Edwin Griswold, and

Horace Bookwalter Drury Horace Bookwalter Drury (August 21, 1888 - November 8, 1968) was an American economist, lecturer at Ohio State University, and management author, particularly known for his early work on scientific management. Biography Drury was born in Dayton, ...

. ''Industrial price policies and economic progress.'' 1938.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nourse, Edwin Griswold 1883 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American economists Chairs of the United States Council of Economic Advisers American cooperative organizers Cornell University alumni Directors of the Office of Management and Budget Economists from New York (state) Presidents of the American Economic Association University of Chicago alumni