Ronald Edsel Findlay (April 12, 1935 – October 8, 2021) was an American economist and trade theorist. He served as the Ragnar Nurkse Professor of Economics at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. He was born in 1935 in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

, then in

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

. He and his family fled on foot from Burma to India during World War II. He received a BA from Rangoon University in 1954, and a PhD from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

in 1960, where his doctoral dissertation was supervised by

Robert Solow Robert Merton Solow, GCIH (; August 23, 1924 – December 21, 2023) was an American economist who received the 1987 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and whose work on the theory of economic growth culminated in the exogenous growth ...

. He began his career as an economist at Rangoon University, first as a tutor (1954–57), then as a lecturer (1960–66), and finally as a research professor (1966–68). He joined Columbia in 1969, initially as a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

, before being appointed a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

in 1970. His research focused on international trade and economic development, and he took what has been described as a perspective centred around

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

. He helped theorise the North-South model of international trade. He became a

U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Consti ...

in 1976. Findlay died on October 8, 2021, at the age of 86.

Selected publications

Selected publications include: * with Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007,
Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium
, Princeton University Press * with Ronald W. Jones, 2001, "Input Trade and the Location of Production", ''

The 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 i ...

'' * 1996 "Modeling Global Interdependence: Centers, Peripheries, and Frontiers", ''The American Economic Review'' * with Richard Clarida, 1992, "Government, Trade, and Comparative Advantage", ''The American Economic Review'' (1992); * 1992 "The Roots of Divergence: Western Economic History in Comparative Perspective", ''The American Economic Review'' * with Stanislaw Wellisz, 1988, "The State and the Invisible Hand", ''World Bank Research Observer'' * 1984 "Trade and Development: Theory and Asian Experience", ''Asian Development Review'', Vol 2, No. 2 * An "Austrian" Model of International Trade and Interest Rate Equalization, in ''

Journal of Political Economy The ''Journal of Political Economy'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press. Established by James Laurence Laughlin in 1892, it covers both theoretical and empirical economics. In the past, the ...

References

American development economists University of Yangon alumni 1935 births Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Academic staff of the University of Yangon {{US-economist-stub American economists Burmese emigrants to the United States Columbia University faculty Burmese economists 2021 deaths

Selected publications

See also

References