Remembering John E. Elliott

Abstract

J ohn E. Elliott has passed away, leaving behind his wife Rose and children John David, Richard, Lisa, James, and Nina. This is an intellectual tribute to John E. Elliott, not a full obituary for him. I will not try to capture the deep meaning and the profound significance of John E. Elliott to his family and to his loved ones. I will not try it because I am a mere colleague and cannot do it justice. As an admiring colleague, though, I will try to do justice to Professor Elliotrs intellectual gift to me and to you, his fellow social economists. John Elliott's 1956 doctoral dissertation at Harvard was Toward a More Generalized Theory of Economic Planning in a Free Society. In that same year he began his lifelong career of teaching and writing at the University of Southern California. His university granted him many awards and honors for excellent teaching and outstanding faculty service. The Association for Social Economics awarded John Elliott the Thomas Divine Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to Social Economics in 1992. The International Journal of Social Economics (Volume 19, Number 7, 1992) honored him with a wonderful festschrift. These and other honors were richly deserved. Professor John E. Elliott died in his 46th year of service at the University of Southern California, while still teaching and writing full time. John Elliott was not lacking in work ethic. He published 13 books, including three editions of his student guide and resource book and including three editions of his Economic Issues and Policies. He wrote 94 articles and chapters in books, including 10 in Review of Social Economy, 18 in International Journal of Social Economics and 3 in Forum for Social Economics. He also wrote 40 book reviews. Two more books and one article were in progress. John Elliotrs research interests included a number of related areas. Our understanding of Soviet economics and of the Russian transition to capitalism were expanded considerably by his efforts. He also wrote extensively on classical economics, Marxist economics, Keynesian economics, Schumpeterian economics, institutional economics and on democratic economic planning, adding significantly to our understanding of each. Economic methodology and philosophy also benefited by the light he shone on them. He served on numerous editorial boards and refereed countless articles.