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Johan Gustaf Knut WicksellSwedish economist
Date of Birth: 20.12.1851
Country:  Sweden |
Content:
Biography of Knut Wicksell
Knut Wicksell was a Swedish economist and leading figure of the Stockholm School. His contributions to economic science influenced both Keynesian and Austrian schools of economic thought.
Early Life and Education
Knut Wicksell was born on December 20, 1851, in Stockholm, Sweden. His father was a successful entrepreneur and real estate broker. Unfortunately, Wicksell lost both of his parents at a young age - his mother passed away when he was only six years old, and his father died when Wicksell was fifteen. Despite this tragedy, his father's significant fortune allowed the orphaned Wicksell to pursue his passion for mathematics and physics as a student at the University of Uppsala in 1869. In two years, he obtained his first academic degree and continued his studies as a doctoral student until 1885 when he defended his dissertation in mathematics.
Transition to Economics
In 1887, Wicksell received a scholarship to study on the continent, where he attended lectures by economist Carl Menger in Vienna. During this time, his interests shifted towards social sciences and, in particular, economics. He gained attention for his views on labor during his lectures at the University of Uppsala. On one occasion, he condemned alcoholism and prostitution as acts that led to alienation, degradation, and impoverishment. Although his views were occasionally labeled as socialist, Wicksell's proposed solution was decidedly Malthusian, advocating for birth control. He would defend this theory until the end of his life. While his passionate ideas garnered some public attention, his first economics work, "Value, Capital, and Rent," published in 1892, went largely unnoticed.
Career and Contributions
In 1896, Wicksell published "Studies in the Theory of Public Finance," which applied marginalism to progressive taxation, public goods, and other aspects of public policy. This book generated much greater interest.
In 1887, Wicksell entered into a civil partnership with Anna Bugge, a Norwegian feminist. However, it was challenging for him to support his family through sporadic appointments and publications. At that time, economics in Sweden was taught within the framework of the law school, and Wicksell was unable to obtain a professorship until he obtained a law degree. He returned to the University of Uppsala and completed a four-year course of legal education in two years. In 1899, he became an adjunct professor at the university. The following year, he assumed a full professorship at Lund University, where he wrote his most significant works.
In 1908, Wicksell delivered a lecture that expressed a satirical attitude towards the concept of immaculate conception, resulting in him being found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to two months in prison. Eight years later, in 1916, Wicksell resigned from his position at Lund University and took a position in Stockholm, advising the government on financial and banking matters. During his time in Stockholm, Wicksell maintained connections with other future great economists of the so-called Stockholm School, including Bertil Ohlin and Gunnar Myrdal. He also taught Dag Hammarskjöld, the future Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Wicksell passed away on May 3, 1926, in Stocksund, a suburb of Stockholm, while working on his last work on the theory of interest. His ideas regarding economic policy were of interest and implemented by the Swedish government, including the targeting of price levels in the 1930s and his vision of a limited "welfare state." Wicksell's contribution to economics is described by some economists, including economic historian Mark Blaug, as fundamental to modern macroeconomics. In his works, Wicksell also expressed views on various social phenomena and often criticized existing institutions such as rank, marriage, church, monarchy, and the military. While Wicksell fought for a more equitable distribution of wealth and income, he primarily saw himself as a mentor to society and hoped to have an influence beyond monetary economics.
