Biography of Armen Alchian

Armen Alchian (April 12, 1914 - February 19, 2013) was an American economist born in Fresno, California. He is regarded as akin to Ronald Coaze as they both were prominent during roughly the same period (both actually passed away this year), and were able to have a wide impact despite a relatively small collection of published works. His first published work was "Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory" (1950) which discussed the idea of profit maximization of companies, with special focus on the role managers play. Alchian also served in the U.S. Air Force where he did statistical analysis and helped develop the idea of the "learning curve," especially within the context of aircraft production. Following the war, Alchian worked as an economist for the RAND Corporation before becoming a professor of economics at UCLA. He co-authored the bold and unique textbook entitled University Economics with William R. Allen. It didn't have groundbreaking sales, but still had a lasting impact on many students, graduate students in particular and served as the influence for many of today's undergraduate economic textbooks. Two topics upon which Alchian spent a great deal of time were property rights and the subsequent discrimination which arises from it. As an Armenian, discrimination was a topic which unfortunately Armen had some experience with, and he was driven to examine the economic causes of such behavior. He is remembered as a man, an economist, and a professor who had a true concern for the well being of humanity (Library of Economics and Liberty).

His work is important in many ways, but probably is most pertinent to this class because of the shifts in ideas and attitudes relating to undergraduate education in economics that his textbook and other writings were able to instill. Another topic that seemed relevant was the role the manager played in maximizing profits. Discrimination in the work  place through labor unions and other such organizations should also play a role in our class discussions. Prior to being assigned Alchian as my alias I had never before heard of him, but after doing even the little research I have done so far it seems that he is a major player of the field of economics.