[OPE-L] Economist John Kenneth Galbraith Dies at 97

[Jurriaan Bendien <adsl675281@xxxxxxxxxx>]

By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 30, 2006; Page A07

John Kenneth Galbraith, the author, scholar, diplomat and presidential
adviser, who was a preeminent symbol and source of liberal political
thought, died last night in Cambridge, Mass. He was 97. His son Alan said
his father died at Mount Auburn Hospital of complications of pneumonia. An
economist and a Harvard professor, Galbraith was an adviser to Democratic
presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. He served John F.
Kennedy as ambassador to India. "He was very lucid until close to the end"
and had maintained his good humor, his son said. Galbraith supplied the
intellectual underpinning and moral support for Democratic efforts to extend
the benefits of American prosperity throughout the population. One of his
most influential and frequently quoted books was "The Affluent Society,"
which was published in 1958. Critical of what it took as complacency amid
wealth, it was often viewed as an inspiration for Democratic social programs
of the 1960s.
Other works included "American Capitalism" (1952), "The New Industrial
State" (1967) and "Economics and the Public Purpose" (1973).

Complete article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/30/AR2006043000062.html?sub=AR