Richard A. Radford (1919 – 7 November 2006) was a British-born 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 ...

who served in the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

and became widely known for his 1945 article on prisoner-of-war

camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

economics.Obituary
''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', 14 November 2006

Early life

Radford was born in 1919 in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, England. He studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. When

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 ...

broke out, Radford left the university and enlisted as a soldier in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. He fought in the Allies'

North African Campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

but was captured in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

by the German forces in 1942 and spent the remainder of the war years in the Stalag VII-A

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

, in southern

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Prisoner-of-war camp economics

During his time in the POW camp, Radford observed the life of prisoners and their economic interactions. On the basis of those observations, he wrote after the war ended the article "The Economic Organisation of a P.O.W. Camp," which appeared in the ''

Economica ''Economica'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of generalist economics published on behalf of the London School of Economics by Wiley-Blackwell. Established in 1921, it is currently edited by Nava Ashraf, Oriana Bandiera, Tim Besley, Franc ...

'' journal in 1945.Woolley, Francis.
The POW economy explained
, ''

The National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'', 9 November 2010 The article eventually became a staple of introductory economics textbooks, , Hubbard, R. Glenn, Anne M. Garnett, Philip Lewis, Anthony Patrick O'Brien. ''Macroeconomics'', 3rd edition, Pearson, 2014, and academic teachings as a primary example of people interacting economically,Fisman, Ray & Tim Sullivan. ''The Inner Lives of Markets: How People Shape Them – And They Shape Us'', Public Affairs; 2016; of the role of middlemen, and the free market at work. Hirshleifer, Jack, Amihai Glazer, David Hirshleifer. ''Price Theory and Applications – Decisions, Markets, and Information'',

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, 2005, In the view of the Austrian school economist Robert P. Murphy, "there is nothing in Radford's account that conflicts with the standard economists’ story about the origin of money."Murphy, Robert P.
Have Anthropologists Overturned Menger?
, 1 September 2011

Criticism

Heterodox economists have criticized Radford's text for supporting the theory of the origin of money as commodity-money and for presenting an artificial situation, that of a POW camp, which they claim resembles a theoretical Walrasian

exchange economy Exchange economy is technical term used in microeconomics research to describe interaction between several agents. In the market, the agent is the subject of exchange and the good is the object of exchange. Each agent brings his/her own endowment, ...

much more than the real-world economy.Berg, Matthew.
Was "Cigarette-Money" in World War II POW Camps a Case of Commodity Money Origination?
, New Economic Perspectives, 16 April 2013

Later career

After the war, Radford returned to Cambridge and received a

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

in economics. In 1947, he moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, to join the International Monetary Fund, while he also started teaching economics at the

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 his capacity as an IMF representative, Radford traveled widely throughout the world. When he retired from the IMF in 1980, he was assistant director of the institution's Fiscal Affairs Department.

Personal life

Radford's first wife, Mary, with whom he had three children, died in 1977. His second marriage, which lasted 27 years, until his death, was to Margaret Radford. He died on 7 November 2006 at the Maplewood Park Place

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home, old folks' home, or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – or rest home, is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Ty ...

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, from complications of open aortic surgery.

References

External links

*Radford, A.R.
The Economic Organisation of a P.O.W. Camp
, ''

'', November 1945 {{DEFAULTSORT:Radford, Richard A. 20th-century American economists British Army personnel of World War II Internment camps 1919 births 2006 deaths British World War II prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Germany British emigrants to the United States