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Robert Lampman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert J. Lampman
Born(1920-09-25)September 25, 1920
DiedMarch 4, 1997(1997-03-04) (aged 76)
NationalityAmerican
SpouseJoAnn Lampman
Academic career
InstitutionUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison (B.A., 1942; Ph.D., 1950)
Doctoral
advisor
Edwin Witte
ContributionsWar on Poverty
Negative income tax

Robert James Lampman (September 25, 1920 in Plover, Wisconsin–March 4, 1997 in Madison) was an American economist known for his research on poverty and the measurement of income distribution.[1][2]

Academic career

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Lampman was a professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1958 until his retirement in 1987. From 1962 to 1963, he was a member of President John F. Kennedy's Council of Economic Advisors, where he began working after being brought to Washington, D.C. by Walter Heller. He is well known for his work on the Council, which played a major role in the design of the United States government's War on Poverty in the 1960s, including writing the chapter on poverty in the 1964 Economic Report of the President.[3] This work led James Tobin to say in 1997 that Lampman was "the intellectual architect of the War on Poverty".[1] After returning to the University of Wisconsin, he became also a major force behind the founding of the University's Institute for Research on Poverty in 1966, after which he served as its interim director until June of that year.[4][5] He also became an early and outspoken advocate for a negative income tax, which eventually led to the introduction of the Earned Income Tax Credit.[1][6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Passell, Peter (1997-03-08). "Robert Lampman, 76, Economist Who Helped in War on Poverty". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  2. ^ "Robert J. Lampman CV" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Southern Rural Poverty Collection". Dewitt Wallace Center. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  4. ^ "History". Institute for Research on Poverty. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  5. ^ "Economist Lampman Dies". news.wisc.edu. 1997-03-07. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  6. ^ Golden, Soma S. (1973-12-31). "Some Success Cited On a Negative Tax". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-14.