Kenneth Boulding

Kenneth Boulding (1910-1993) was a notable economist and educator, best known for his contribution to the General Systems Theory and for his work on numerous projects in both economics and social science. This text gives an insight into the life and multidisciplinary work of Boulding. Boulding was born to a working-class family in Liverpool, England and earned a scholarship to study at Oxford University. After graduating he studied economics at the University of Chicago, and later settled in America taking a job at Colgate University where he wrote his bestselling textbook Economic Analysis. This book along with other publications won Boulding the John Bates Clark Medal in 1949. After this time Boulding began to adopt a more transdisciplinary approach to economic problems. In 1968 he was elected president of the American Economics Association. Boulding was greatly influenced by World War I as a child, which eventually led him to join the Society of Friends (Quakers) while in college. His religion had a great influence on his thinking and led him to apply his unique perspective to areas such as peace, conflict resolution, human betterment, ethics, evolution, general systems and power. This study provides a summary Kenneth Boulding's achievements, making it indispensable reading for scholars and researchers of history of economic thought and economic theory. It will also appeal to a broader readership of social sciences.