Balogh, Thomas (1905–1985)

Abstract

Balogh was one of that influential group of exiled Hungarian economists, for whose ambitions and talents Hungary was too small and poor. Experience of the power politics of the 1930s, as seen from a Hungary dominated by Germany, equipped him well to understand the adjustments of post-imperial Britain to a world in which power had ebbed away from her. Under the influence of the banker O.T. Falk, also the originator of many of Keynes’s ideas, Balogh was converted from an anti-inflationary creed to his fierce hostility to dear money and deflationary policies. His Studies in Financial Organization (1947) combines a passion for reform with skilful command of intricate detail. After the war, Balogh turned his attention to the problems of the underdeveloped countries. As adviser to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1957–9) he transformed an afforestation project into a series of ambitious development plans of the countries round the Mediterranean.

This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, 1st edition, 1987. Edited by John Eatwell, Murray Milgate and Peter Newman