GALBRAITH, JOHN KENNETH

born Oct. 15, 1908, Iona Station, Ont., Can. American economist and public servant known for his liberal views and for the high literary quality of his popular writings on public affairs. After study at the University of Toronto (B.S., 1931) and the University of California at Berkeley (Ph.D., 1934), Galbraith taught successively at Harvard and Princeton universities until 1942. During World War II and the postwar period, he held a variety of governmental posts, resuming his academic career at Harvard (194975). He established himself as a politically active, liberal academician with a talent for communicating with the reading public. A key adviser to President John F. Kennedy, he served as ambassador to India (196163), returning to Harvard in 1963 but continuing his involvement in public affairs. In 196768 he served as national chairman of Americans for Democratic Action. Galbraith's major works include American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power (1951), in which he questioned the devotion to the competitive ideal in industrial organization. In The Affluent Society (1958) he faulted the conventional wisdom of American economic policies and called for less emphasis on production and more attention to public services. In The New Industrial State (1967) he called for intellectual and political innovations to deal with the decline of competition in the American economy and envisaged a growing similarity between managerial capitalism and socialism. Among his many other works are The Great Crash, 1929 (1955), The Liberal Hour (1960), Ambassador's Journal (1969), A Life in Our Times: Memoirs (1981), The Anatomy of Power (1983), Economics in Perspective: A Critical History (1987), and The Culture of Contentment (1992).