HANSEN, ALVIN HARVEY

born Aug. 23, 1887, Viborg, S.D., U.S. died June 6, 1975, Alexandria, Va. prominent American economist noted for his strong and influential advocacy of the theories of John Maynard Keynes. Hansen was educated at Yankton College (B.A., 1910) and at the University of Wisconsin (Ph.D., 1918), where he studied under the great economists Richard T. Ely and John R. Commons. He taught at Brown University (191619) and then at the University of Minnesota (191937). In 1937 Hansen was appointed as the first Littauer professor of political economy at Harvard University, retaining that position until his retirement in 1962. Hansen had a particular interest in fluctuations in economic activity, and his Business Cycle Theory (1927) criticized under-consumptionist theories. Though at first advocating deflationary policies and opposed to Keynes's belief in the stimulation of demand, Hansen later became renowned as the foremost proponent in the United States of Keynesian views. Hansen further developed Keynes's theory by his introduction of the stagnation thesis, which states that because of the characteristics of a mature economy, compensatory expenditure by government would be permanently required. The tax mechanics of this were treated in State and Local Finance (1944; cowritten with H.S. Perloff). Hansen's remarkable success in having these theories adopted as government policy was facilitated by his work as an adviser to various U.S. government agencies and commissions. He was on the committee that worked to create the Social Security system. Hansen was also notable as an educator. Among the many students that he influenced at Harvard were Paul McCracken and Paul Samuelson, who would later achieve prominence of their own. Hansen was chiefly remembered by generations of students as the author of Guide to Keynes (1953), a classic text on Keynesian economics, but his own independent theoretical contribution remains the work on long-run stagnation.