Arthur I. Bloomfield papers, 1927-1995

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Summary

Creator:
Bloomfield, Arthur I. (Arthur Irving)
Abstract:
Arthur Bloomfield (1914-1998) was a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Pennsylvania. This collection documents his professional life through his correspondence, writings, research, and professional and faculty activities. It forms parts of the Economists' Papers Archive.
Extent:
12 Linear Feet (12 boxes and one oversize folder.)
Language:
Material in English.
Collection ID:
RL.00122

Background

Scope and content:

This collections chiefly consists of research files from Bloomfield's job as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 1941-1958, professional and academic correspondence received or written from 1931-1995, research notes on various topics in international finance, notes for his university classes on the history of economic thought, and research files on the pre-1914 gold standard. The papers document Bloomfield's career as economist and professor of economics, with special emphasis on his work as economic consultant for the United States federal government, particularly for the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, and for the governments of post-World War II South Korea and Indochina. His chief areas of research activity focused on international banking, evaluating foreign aid programs, the pre-1914 gold standard, and economic development in the UK and British Commonwealth countries (including the British West Indies), and economy and banking in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, the Congo, and Zaire. Substantial materials on the history of economic thought can be found in Bloomfield's teaching files.

The Correspondence series, contains letters received or written by Bloomfield over the period 1931-1995. Arranged in folders chronologically, this substantive collection of letters lends insight into Bloomfield's professional and academic life.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York series contains material pertaining to Bloomfield's first career, spanning 17 years, as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY. For that position, he wrote a number of research memoranda and in-house articles on a wide range of international finance topics. Before World War II, he wrote mostly on economic developments in the UK and British Commonwealth countries, but after the war his research memoranda involved a broader range of topics.

The Pre-1914 Gold Standard series contains research notes for an intended book on the functioning of the international gold standard, 1880-1914. Bloomfield embarked on a year-long research trip to Europe in 1957 on a Rockefeller grant, visiting twelve European central banks, including the Bank of England where he spent over six months. In the end, he did not complete the book, but did write three substantial monographs from his notes: Monetary Policy under the International Gold Standard, 1880-1914 (Federal Reserve Bank of NY, 1959); Short-term Capital Movements under the Pre-1914 Gold Standard (Princeton University Press, 1963); and Patterns of Fluctuation in International Investment before 1914 (Princeton University Press, 1968). Although these books are not in the collection, this series contains one file folder for many countries or geographical areas, including: Switzerland, US, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Egypt, France, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Russia, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, and Hungary.

The History of Economic Thought series is an extensive collection of files on diverse topics in the history of economic thought. After 1974, Bloomfield's research became increasingly devoted to the history of economic thought, and he taught both graduate and undergraduate level classes on the subject at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Research series contains research notes associated with various overseas assignments and trips. Over the period 1949-1984, Bloomfield made numerous trips to developing countries as a consultant, in some cases helping to establish the Central Bank (e.g., South Korea), or in other cases evaluating foreign aid programs to those areas (e.g., Indochina). In addition to notes made in preparation for, and during, these assignments, this series also contains notes for several articles (published and unpublished), speeches, and conferences.

The bulk of the Other Papers series consists of papers from Bloomfield's undergraduate days at McGill University, including one paper written in 1937 for Frank Knight's ECO 305 class at the University of Chicago, titled "Thorstein Veblen and his Analysis of Business Enterprise."

Biographical / historical:
Chronology
Date Event
1914, Oct. 2
Born in Montreal, Canada
1931
Entered McGill University on scholarship after graduating first out of 900 students in Quebec high school leaving examinations
1935
BA, Economics and Political Science, McGill University
1936
MA, Economics and Political Science, McGill University
1940, Autumn-1941
Research Assistant to Oskar Morgenstern, Princeton University
1941-1958
Economist, Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 1941-1947; Chief, Balance of Payments Division, 1947-1953; Senior Economist, 1953-1958
1942
PhD, Economics, University of Chicago
1944-1945
Consultant, Foreign Economic Administration
1945
Became US citizen
1949, Sept.-1950, Mar.
Advisor, Bank of Korea and Korean Ministry of Finance, on behalf of Economic Cooperation Administration
1950
Capital Imports and the American Balance of Payments, 1934-39
1951, Dec.-1952, Apr.
Financial Advisor, UN Civil Assistance Command and the UN Korean Reconstruction Agency, South Korea
1953, Feb.
Member, four-person team sent to Associated States of Indochina by Mutual Security Administration to evaluate US foreign aid program
1953, Autumn
Senior Economist, Professional Staff of (Randall) Commission on Foreign Economic Policy
1954, Oct.-1955, Jan.
Consultant, US Foreign Operations Administration, Indochina
1956, Nov. and 1960, Aug.
Consultant, International Cooperation Administration, South Korea
1957-1958
Year-long research trip visiting 12 European central banks on Rockefeller grant, conducting research on international gold standard before 1914
1958-1985
Professor of Economics, University of Pennsylvania
1959
Monetary Policy under the International Gold Standard, 1880-1914
1961, Jan.
Consultant, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University College of the West Indies
1963
Short-term Capital Movements under the Pre-1914 Gold Standard
1964, Sept.-Dec.
Consultant, Central Bank of Malaysia, on behalf of Ford Foundation
1966, Aug.-Sept. and 1967, June
Consultant, US Agency for International Development, Democratic Republic of Congo
1968
Patterns of Fluctuation in International Investment Before 1914
1974-1975
Research in London for "Adam Smith and the Theory of International Trade"
1978-1998
Member, Managing Board of Editors, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics
1985
Retired from University of Pennsylvania
1998, Oct. 6
Died in Washington, DC
Acquisition information:
The Arthur I. Bloomfield papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library as a gift from Bloomfield in 1996, who also provided funding for their processing.
Processing information:

Processed by Joanna Vinluan and Paula Jeannet, November 1999.

Arrangement:

The Arthur I. Bloomfield papers are arranged into six series: Correspondence, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Pre-1914 Gold Standard, History of Economic Thought, Research, and Other Papers.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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[Identification of item], Arthur I. Bloomfield papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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