Economist

Economist

b. June 5, 1883
d. April 21, 1946

"A study of the history of opinion is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind." 
    
John Maynard Keynes founded an entire school of modern thought known as Keynesian Economics. He helped establish the Bretton Woods system in 1944, a system which oversees international money management. Keynes's ideas form a large and important part of modern macroeconomics.

Keynes attended King's College in Cambridge, England where he originally studied mathematics and philosophy, but later decided to pursue economics. After receiving his degree in 1906, Keynes moved to London and worked for the government treasury.  

He attended the Paris Peace Conference following World War II. In response to the Treaty of Versailles, Keynes published "The Economic Consequences of Peace" to highlight Germany's heavy burden and the probable consequences the terms would have on Germany and the rest of the world. The book provided a brilliant analysis and Keynes subsequently influenced the Marshall plan, instituted by the U.S. to rebuild Europe following WWII.

Keynes is best known for two publications, "The Treatise on Probability" (1921) and "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" (1936), which he published in response to the Depression. Ideas in "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" form the foundation of modern nations' economies.

In 1908, Keynes fell in love with Scottish painter Duncan Grant. Their relationship lasted only a few years, but they remained close friends for the rest of their lives. Prior to his marriage to Lydia Lopokova in 1921, Keynes' relationships and sexual encounters were exclusively with men. After his marriage, Keynes remained friends with many of his previous friends and partners.

On April 21, 1946, Keynes died of a heart attack.

Economist and Economic Historian

Deirdre McCloskey is an internationally renowned economist and economic historian. She is the author of a memoir recounting her transition from male to female.

McCloskey was born Donald, the son of a Harvard professor and a poet. She remembers wanting to be female as early as 11 years old.  She writes, “As Donald aged 13 or 14 waited for sleep in his bed, he would fantasize about two things. Please, God, please … Tomorrow when I wake up: I won’t stutter … And I’ll be a girl.”

Donald McCloskey was co-captain of his high school football team. In 1964, he earned a degree in economics from Harvard. The next year, he married. He and his wife were together for 30 years and have two children.  

In 1970, McCloskey received a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. He won the prestigious David A. Wells Prize for best dissertation. He was hired by the University of Chicago, where he worked as a professor of economics and history. In 1980, McCloskey accepted a professorship at the University of Iowa and served as the chair of the Economics Department from 1984 to 1999.  

After cross-dressing privately, and then more publicly, for nearly four decades, McCloskey began transitioning in 1995.  For over two years, “Dee”—as McCloskey called herself during the transition—underwent numerous operations, including sexual reassignment surgery, emerging finally as Deirdre.  

McCloskey wrote “Crossing, A Memoir” (1999), her story of crossing from a 52-year-old man to a 55-year-old woman. The New York Times named the memoir a “Notable Book of the Year.”  

McCloskey has written 14 books and published more than 350 articles on economic theory and history, philosophy, rhetoric, feminism, ethics, and law. Since 2000, she has been a Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English and Communications at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She holds professorships at Academia Vitae in the Netherlands and at the University of the Free State in South Africa.