1950's Lifestyles and Social Trends | Galbraith, John Kenneth 1908-2006

ECONOMIST AND TEACHER

Criticizing Materialism.

John Kenneth Galbraith made his name in 1958 with the publication of The Affluent Society, a critical look at the "conventional wisdom" that dominated American economic and social life at the time. The book was a rarity, a scholarly work on economics that received main-stream attention and became a best-seller. Its popularity was even more surprising, perhaps, considering its stinging indictment of modern materialist society, which, Galbraith claimed, champions private wealth and productivity over public needs.

Early Life.

Galbraith was born to Scottish-Canadians on the shore of Lake Erie near the United States-Canada border. He graduated from an agricultural branch of the University of Toronto and then pursued advanced degrees in economics from the University of California. In 1934 he accepted an offer to teach at Harvard University. For the next ten...