ABSTRACT
My title alludes to the title of Galbraith’s (1973a) presidential address to the AEA: ‘Power and the Useful Economist’. I find the label very apropos to an economist whose prose entertains sufficiently that his books are freely purchased by significant numbers of consumers. Usefulness is also apparent in Galbraith’s lifelong partisan service to the Democratic Party as well as his occupation of several government posts including a tour as U.S. Ambassador to India. Even some who disagree with Galbraith’s analysis may admire him as a paradigm of an involved economist who participates in the political advocacy process. Galbraith’s usefulness is not simply a matter of individual idiosyncracy. It reflects the intellectual tradition which he represents-pragmatic American institutional economics, which insists upon an economics that is useful and that is accessible to the literate citizen so that it can be applied in the democratic process (Stanfield, 1999). Galbraith’s success in this regard is apparent from his lucrative sales figures.
