David Miles Bensusan-Butt (24 July 1914,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...

– 25 March 1994,

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 ...

) 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 spent much of his career in Australia. Known as David, he published his work as D. M. Bensusan-Butt.

Background and education

A nephew of Camille and

Esther Pissarro Esther Bensusan Pissarro (12 November 1870 – 20 November 1951) was a British wood-engraver, designer, and printer. Biography Pissarro née Bensusan was born on 12 November 1870, the sister of Samuel L. Bensusan. Her parents were Jacob Sa ...

, and the son of Jewish socialist Dr Ruth Bensusan-Butt (1877–1957), the first woman doctor to work in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, Bensusan-Butt was educated at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England. The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free ...

, Holt, and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, where he was a student of

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

and indexed Keynes's

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

, the ''

General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money ''The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money'' is a book by English economist John Maynard Keynes published in February 1936. It caused a profound shift in economic thought, giving macroeconomics a central place in economic theory an ...

''. Bensusan-Butt acted as an assistant to Keynes, for searching literature and writing references, making him Keynes's best-informed student on progress with the project, so that one historian of economics has described him as 'the favoured man'.

Career

After a short period working for ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...

'', Bensusan-Butt joined the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in 1938. Early in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he became private secretary to

Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, ( ; 5 April 18863 July 1957) was a British physicist who was prime scientific adviser to Winston Churchill in World War II. Lindemann was a brilliant intellectual, who cut through bureau ...

, then worked for Winston Churchill. While he was

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

, Churchill created a Statistical Section in the Admiralty which was joined by Bensusan-Butt,

Roy Harrod Sir Henry Roy Forbes Harrod (13 February 1900 – 8 March 1978) was an English economist. He is best known for writing '' The Life of John Maynard Keynes'' (1951) and for the development of the Harrod–Domar model, which he and Evsey Domar dev ...

, Bryan Hopkin, Douglas MacDougall and Tom Wilson. At Lord Cherwell's recommendation, Butt did an analysis of the effectiveness of

Bomber Command Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...

. Reviewing 600 photoreconnaissance images, Butt did a statistical analysis of the attacks completed in June and July 1941. The resultant Butt Report showed that Bomber Command was having great difficulty delivering its bombs over its targets, with only 5% of bombers setting out bombed within of the target. This report was a key impetus to the formation of Bomber Command's Pathfinder Force, which greatly improved the accuracy and destructive power of Bomber Command. Bensusan-Butt later joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, serving on the minelayer HMS ''Cyclone''. Following the war, Butt moved to the Economic Section of the Cabinet Office and later the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or ...

. In 1949–1950 he was seconded to the Australian Prime Minister's Department, and he spent two periods of one year at

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer c ...

as a research fellow, in 1953–1954 and 1958–1959. In 1962, he became a professorial fellow in the

Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies The Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs is a constituent of the College of Asia and the Pacific, but was formerly part of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU, which was founded in 1946 as part of the Institute of Advanced ...

(RSPAS) of the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

, remaining there for fifteen years. In 1975–1976 he was the most influential member of the Asprey Committee on tax reform, recommending a dramatic change from a complicated system of income taxes to a broad-based

consumption tax A consumption tax is a tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services. The tax base of such a tax is the money spent on consumption. Consumption taxes are usually indirect, such as a sales tax or a value-added tax. However, a consumpt ...

. In 1976, he retired to

, settling in part of the 17th-century house at

Stamford Brook Stamford Brook was a tributary of the Tideway stretch of the River Thames in west London supplied by three headwaters. Historically used as an irrigation ditch or dyke the network of small watercourses had four lower courses and mouths. Histo ...

of his uncle by marriage

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( , ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). H ...

Selected publications

*''On Economic Growth: an Essay in Pure Theory'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960) *''On Economic Man: an Essay on the Elements of Economic Theory'' (Canberra: Australian National University, 1978) *'A Model of Trade and Accumulation' in ''

American Economic Review The ''American Economic Review'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Economic Association. First published in 1911, it is considered one of the most prestigious and highly distinguished journals in the field of ec ...

'' 44 (1954), pp. 511–529 *'Keynes's General Theory, Then and Now', in ''On Economic Knowledge, a sceptical legacy'' ed. D. M. Bensusan Butt (Canberra: Australian National University, 1967)

Quotations

*"The ultimate fruits of civilization are slow growths that need a stable environment."Terence Wilmot Hutchison, ''Positive economics and policy objectives'' (1964), p. 152

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *''David Bensusan-Butt, 1914–1994'' by H. W. Arndt & R. M. Sundrum in ''The Economic Journal'' vol. 105, no. 430, May 1995, pp. 669–675 *
Obituary
at

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

, 5 April 1994 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bensusan-Butt, David 1914 births 1994 deaths Military personnel from Colchester Royal Navy personnel of World War II Royal Navy sailors Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People educated at Gresham's School 20th-century British economists British expatriates in Australia