David Miles Bensusan-Butt (24 July 1914,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

– 25 March 1994,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) was an English

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, 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 ...

who spent much of his career in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Known as David, he published his work as D. M. Bensusan-Butt.

Background and education

A nephew of Esther Bensusan, the wife of Lucien Pissarro, and the son of Jewish socialist Ruth Bensusan-Butt (1877–1957), the first woman doctor to work in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Bensusan-Butt was educated with his older brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a private school (English fee-charging boarding and day 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 f ...

, Holt, and then at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, 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 and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originall ...

and indexed Keynes's

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) 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, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

, 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 and ...

''. 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 newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'', Bensusan-Butt joined the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in 1938. Early in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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. He was involved in the development of radar and infra-red guida ...

, then worked for

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. While he was

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

, Churchill created a Statistical Section in the Admiralty which was joined by Bensusan-Butt, Roy Harrod, Bryan Hopkin, Douglas MacDougall and Tom Wilson. At 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. In September 1944, Bensusan-Butt was commissioned as a Temporary Sub-Lieutenant into the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

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

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

and later the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

. From 1949 to 1950 he was seconded to the

n Prime Minister's Department, and he spent two periods of one year at

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

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 (RSPAS) of the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, remaining there for fifteen years.Simon Shorvon,
"Obituary: David Bensusan-Butt"
''

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 publis ...

'', 5 April 1994, accessed 19 October 2023 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 (economics), consumption. Consumption taxes are usually indirect, such as a sales tax or a value-added ta ...

. In 1976, he retired to

, settling in part of the 17th-century house at Stamford Brook of his uncle by marriage Lucien Pissarro.

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 first published by the American Economic Association in 1911. The current editor-in-chief is Erzo FP Luttmer, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College. The journal is ...

'' 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 * {{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