Stanley Lebergott (July 22, 1918 – July 24, 2009) was a prominent American government

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the 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 field there are ...

and

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

economics 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 analyzes ...

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

Early life and family

Lebergott was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, on July 22, 1918, and went to the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where he got both a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

and 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 economics in the late 1930s. He married Ruth Wellington in 1941, and they had two children (one daughter and one son), Karen and Steven. Steven died in 1995 but Lebergott's wife and daughter Karen outlived him.

Career

Lebergott joined the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1940. He compiled historical unemployment statistics for the time period between 1890 and the 1950s, and his statistics were widely popularized until

Christina Romer Christina Duckworth Romer (née Duckworth; born December 25, 1958) is the Class of 1957 Garff B. Wilson Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley and a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administ ...

and others found flaws in them and accordingly modified them. He joined the Wesleyan University faculty in 1962 and stayed there until his retirement in 1995. He also wrote a book called "Manpower in Economic Growth" in 1964, in which he discussed U.S. historical economic growth, poverty, and income inequality. In 1975, he wrote "Wealth and Want", a book about how government policies affect poverty. In 1993, he wrote another book called "Pursuing Happiness: American Consumers in the Twentieth Century". Lebergott consistently argued about the positive impact of

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the su ...

on the U.S. economy and the standard of living of the American people (including improved health, higher wages, less drug use, better technology, and more privacy) throughout his career. Boston University economics professor Robert Margo wrote that

Lebergott's influence on economic history has been profound. There are few activities that economic historians can engage in of greater consequence than reconstructing the hard numbers. In this line of work Lebergott had few peers. 'Manpower' put the labor force—people—at the center of economic history, not the bloodless 'agents' of economic models but real people.

This statement indicated the importance of Lebergott's work in academic economic discourse. In 1963 he was elected as a

Fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The number of new fellows per year is limited ...

.View/Search Fellows of the ASA
accessed 2016-07-23.

Death

Lebergott died on July 24, 2009, in his home in Middletown, Connecticut. His death was due to

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

and occurred just two days after he celebrated his 91st birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebergott, Stanley University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni 1918 births 2009 deaths People from Detroit Wesleyan University faculty People from Middletown, Connecticut Fellows of the American Statistical Association Economists from Michigan Economists from Connecticut 20th-century American economists