Jesse William Markham (April 16, 1916 – June 21, 2009) was an American

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 ...

. Markham was best known for his work on antitrust policy, price theory and industrial organization. Markham was the Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

(HBS), and the former chief economist to the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

Early life and education

Markham was born in

Sharps, Virginia Sharps (formerly, Griffin, Milden, Milden Village, Milden Wharf, Milton, Milton Wharf, Sharp's Wharf, and Sharps Wharf) is an unincorporated community in Richmond County, Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a ...

. Markham attended the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

, where he played baseball. In 1941, he earned an undergraduate degree in economics and was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. After graduating from Richmond, he began graduate school in economics that fall at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. In 1942, Markham enlisted in

World War II 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 ...

where he served as an officer in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

for three years. Markham served in the Atlantic theater on the , which was the heavy cruiser acting as the flagship for the

Normandy invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...

, where he saw combat from the first attack on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. After the War, Markham began studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and earned a master's degree in 1947 and a Ph.D. in 1949 in economics.

Career

In 1948, Markham began his career as an associate professor at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

where he worked until 1952.

Federal Trade Commission

In 1953, the

selected Markham to be the FTC's chief economist. Markham recalled: "At a time when Congress had passed an act putting arbitrary constraints on corporate mergers, the Eisenhower administration saw me as a voice in favor of a standard of workable, as opposed to perfect, competition. I could advocate the benefits of letting certain firms work together to foster innovation, which buyers value just as much as temporary price advantages - the traditional yardstick of competitiveness." Markham left the FTC in 1955. In 1964, Markham wrote an article for the

Columbia Law Review The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes. It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who s ...

entitled "The Federal Trade Commission's Use of Economics." Markham criticized the FTC for relying on oversimplified rules of thumb, instead of the tedious analysis Congress seemed to have in mind as one of the agency's principal functions. In 2003, Markham returned to the FTC to comment on economists' role in antitrust during the 1950s and 1960s.

Professor of economics

From 1955 until 1968, Markham was Professor of Economics at Princeton University, but visited as a professor in the Harvard economics department and at the Harvard Business School. In 1958, Markham served as an economic delegate for the

European Common Market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

(now the OEEC). Markham was Dennis Mueller's thesis advisor at Princeton. In 1968, Markham accepted George P. Baker's invitation to serve as Harvard Business School's Charles E. Wilson Professor of Business Administration. While at HBS, Markham worked alongside

Paul Samuelson Paul Anthony Samuelson (May 15, 1915 – December 13, 2009) was an American economist who was the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. When awarding the prize in 1970, the Swedish Royal Academies stated that he "h ...

, the first American Nobel laureate in economics. Markham retired from HBS in 1982, but continued to teach at the

Harvard Extension School Harvard Extension School (HES) is the Continuing education, continuing education School of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1910, it is o ...

and at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

at the

Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidential ele ...

. In 1989, he served as a People to People Diplomacy Mission Delegate to the USSR.

Personal life

Markham was a part-time resident of

Longboat Key, Florida Longboat Key is a town in Manatee and Sarasota counties along the central west coast of the U.S. state of Florida, located on and coterminous with the barrier island of the same name. Longboat Key is south of Anna Maria Island, between Sarasota Ba ...

. Markham married Penelope Anton in 1944, and they had three children: Elizabeth (Betsy) McLean, John James Emanuel, II, and Jesse William Jr.

External links

Jesse Markham research files
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.

Books

*Baseball economics and public policy (1981) *Horizontal divestiture and the petroleum industry (1977) *Conglomerate Enterprise and Public Policy (1973) *Industrial organization and economic development : in honour of E.S. Mason (1970) *The market economy in historical perspective (1966) *The Common Market: Friend or competitor? (The Charles C. Moskowitz lectures) (1964) *Inflation, growth, and employment (1964) *The American economy (1963) *Prescription drugs and the public health : a digest of the presentation (1962) *The fertilizer industry; study of an imperfect market (1958) *Competition in the Rayon Industry (1952)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Markham, Jesse W. Economists from Virginia Harvard Business School faculty University of Richmond alumni United States Navy officers 1916 births 2009 deaths People from Richmond County, Virginia Business theorists Princeton University faculty Emory University faculty American legal writers Vanderbilt University faculty Harvard Business School alumni People from Longboat Key, Florida Economists from New York (state) Economists from Florida 20th-century American economists Harvard Extension School faculty