ABSTRACT
This chapter describes Daly’s education and life as an economist. His initial interest in economics was focused on Latin American Development. He wrote his PhD dissertation under the supervision of Nicolas-Georgescu Roegen, from whom he had taken an inspiring course on economic theory. The arrangement became problematic though and over the years there were ups and downs in their relationship; but Daly and Georgescu-Roegen remained friends and colleagues until the latter’s death in 1994. Daly became the most important popularizer of his teacher’s seminal work on thermodynamics and economics while holding different views on its implications for a steady-state economy.
The chapter includes the story of Daly’s marriage to Marcia, his various appointments at Louisiana State University, the University of Maryland, his overseas research in Brazil, his involvement with Dennis and Donella Meadows and The Limits to Growth, his work with the World Council of Churches, and his particular experiences working in the World Bank, including a cruise on the Royal Yacht Britannia in the mouth of the Amazon. Throughout the chapter there are references to some of his most important and influential writings, the substance of which is explored in subsequent chapters.
