William Harold Hutt (3 August 1899 – 19 June 1988) was an English

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 ...

who described himself as a classical economist.Egger, John B. "William Harold Hutt (1899–1988): A Biographical Essay from an Austrian Perspective." '' Mises.org''.

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Early life

Hutt was born into a working-class, but educated family in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where his father was a compositor. After he completed high school during the height of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he began training as a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

, but abandoned his training at the end of the war. Champion, Rafe. "The Achievement of William Harold Hutt.

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Education

Hutt attended the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

(LSE) where he earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree under the "leading influence" of

Edwin Cannan Edwin Cannan (3 February 1861, Funchal, Madeira – 8 April 1935, Bournemouth), the son of David Cannan and artist Jane Cannan, was a British economist and historian of economic thought. He was a professor at the London School of Economics from 1 ...

. After his 1924 graduation from LSE, Hutt worked for a publisher until 1927. It was during this period that Hutt wrote his first published essay, entitled "The Factory System of the Early Nineteenth Century" (1926).

Professional career

Rather than wholly removing himself from academia upon the completion of his undergraduate degree, Hutt remained immersed in the LSE culture, attending LSE classes informally until March 1928, when he accepted a position as senior lecturer at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

(UCT),

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. In 1930, Hutt was promoted to "Chair of Commerce" at UCT. Later, Hutt would be named "Dean of the Faculty of Commerce." In his writings on

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The ...

, including his first book, ''The Theory of Collective Bargaining'' (1930), Hutt disputed the commonly held position that labor was at a disadvantage in bargaining with employers, an idea which some had used to justify organized violence by

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

. He also argued against the idea that the labor market consists of a "bilateral monopoly." Hutt argued that Collective Bargaining could lead to mass unemployment and rested on state intervention (for example the British Act of Parliament of 1875), and that picketing was a para military practice that amounted to legalised obstruction of the entrance of a place of business. Although Hutt argued vehemently against what he considered to be injustices committed by trade unions, he did not advocate their outright abolition. According to

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

writer Rafe Champion, Hutt believed that, : nions/nowiki> had (and have) many useful functions in addition to acting as friendly societies for health and welfare provision. They could help their members to improve their qualifications and locate the best paid work, and they could provide assistance to members subjected to unfair treatment by management. Hutt later became known as a leading voice in the academic community condemning South African

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. He vehemently objected to the policy, arguing in his 1964 critique, ''The Economics of the Colour Bar'', that it was little more than a means by which white labor unions used the government to outlaw black competition. However, he did not support universal equal suffrage, instead arguing that “it would be absolutely essential to renounce the principle of universal suffrage on a common roll and accept some form of weighted franchise.” He was a member of the

Mont Pelerin Society The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) is an international organization composed of economists, philosophers, historians, intellectuals and business leaders.Michael Novak, 'The Moral Imperative of a Free Economy', in '' The 4% Solution: Unleashing the E ...

and of the

Philadelphia Society The Philadelphia Society is a membership organization the purpose of which is "to sponsor the interchange of ideas through discussion and writing, in the interest of deepening the intellectual foundation of a free and ordered society, and of bro ...

. Hutt's work has been notably praised by George Selgin and Nobel laureate James M. Buchanan. In his 1936 book "Economists and the Public" he coined the now famous concept " consumer sovereignty". His papers are archived at the

Universidad Francisco Marroquín Francisco Marroquín University (Spanish: ''Universidad Francisco Marroquín''), also known by the abbreviation UFM, is a private, secular university in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It describes its mission as "to teach and disseminate the ethical ...

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...

."William H. Hutt's birthday."

'. 8 August 2005

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Books

''The Theory of Collective Bargaining''
(1930)
''Economists and the Public''
(1936) *
The Theory of Idle Resources''
(1939)
''Plan for Reconstruction: A Project for Victory in War and Peace''
(1943) * ''Keynesianism Retrospect and Prospect: A Critical Restatement of Basic Economic Principles'' (1963)
''The Economics of the Colour Bar: A Study of the Economic Origins and Consequences of Racial Segregation in South Africa''
(1964)
''Politically Impossible...?''
(1971)
''The Strike-threat System: The Economic Consequences of Collective Bargaining''
(1973)
''A Rehabilitation of Say's Law''
(1974) * ''Individual Freedom: Selected Works of William H. Hutt'' (1975) * ''The Keynesian Episode: A Reassessment'' (1979)

References

External links