The previous post provided a transcription of the 1986 syllabus for Milton Moss’s course at the University of Maryland “The Development of Economic Ideas” that turned up in the J. Herbert Furth papers at the Hoover Institution Archives. Since Milton Moss is hardly a household name, today’s post introduces the minor Milton as our newest entry to the Meet-an-Economics-PhD-Alumna/us series. His “greatest hit” appears to be the 1973 NBER volume that he edited, The Measurement of Social and Economic Performance.
Fun Fact: Moss’s father-in-law (Naum Jasny) was a renowned expert on Soviet agriculture–see the biographical note included at the end of this post.
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Details from the Life and Career of Milton Moss
Columbia Ph.D. (1962)
1915. Milton Moss born February 3 in New York City. Parents: Edward and Fannie Moss.
1935. B.S.S., City College of the City University of New York (CUNY).
1937. M.A. from Columbia University. Thesis: A sociological view of Thorstein Veblen.
1941. Marriage to Tatyana Jasny May 31, 1941 in Manhattan. [Children: Philip I. and Lynda M. Moss.]
1948. Sales finance company operations in 1947 in Federal Reserve Bulletin (July 1948), pp. 781-786.
1949. A study of instalment credit terms, Federal Reserve Bulletin (Dec 1949), pp. 1442-1449.
1955. “Monthly Production Indexes and Changes in Output per Manhour,” in American Statistical Association Proceedings of the Business and Economic Statistics Section, 1955. Washington: American Statistical Association.
1957. “Industrial Activity and Productivity” published in American Statistical Association, Proceedings of the Business and Economic Statistics Section.
1961. Comment on V. R. Berlinguette and F. H. Leacy, The Estimation of Real Domestic Product by Final Expenditure Categories and by Industry of Origin in Canada. Chapter 6 in NBER, Output, Input, and Productivity Measurement, Vol. 25 by the Conference on Research in Income and Wealth. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
1961. Leave of absence from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve to complete his Ph.D.
1962. Ph.D. thesis. Columbia University. Dissertation: Short-run changes in consumer demand; a study in methods of observation with special reference to automobile demand.
1968. Needs for Consistency and Flexibility in Measures of Real Product by Industry, Review of Income and Wealth, Volume 14, number 3, pp. 1-17
1968. Chapter 9. Consumption: A Report on Contemporary Issues, pp. 449-524, in Eleanor Bernert Sheldon and Wilbert E. Moore (eds), Indicators of Social Change: Concepts and Measurements. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
1968. Comment on Comparison of Federal Reserve and OBE Measures of Real Manufacturing Output, 1947-64 by Jack J. Gottsegen and Richard C. Ziemer. Chapter 8 in NBER The Industrial Composition of Income and Product, Vol. 32, Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, John W. Kendrick, ed. New York: Columbia University Press.
1973. NBER. The Measurement of Social and Economic Performance, ed. by Milton Moss. New York: Columbia University Press.
1980. Social Challenges to Economic Accounting and Economic Challenges to Social Accounting, Review of Income and Wealth, Volume 26, Number 3, pp. 1-17.
2009. Died January 1 in Silver Spring, Maryland.
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Washington Post obit
January 11, 2009
Milton Moss (Age 93) On January 1, 2009 at Riderwood Village, Silver Spring, MD. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Tatyana J. Moss; his daughter, Lynda M. Moss of Winston-Salem, NC, his son, Philip I. Moss of Brookline, MA, and his grandchildren, William B. Moss and Tatyana L. Moss.
Source: Published in The Washington Post on Jan. 11, 2009.
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Federal Statistical Directory, 1967.
Executive Office of the President. Bureau of the Budget. Office of Statistical Standards.
Milton Moss, Assistant Chief, National Economic Accounts.Assignment Area: National accounts, savings and productivity, balance of payments.
1969 AEA Biographical Listing, p. 309.
MOSS, Milton. Government; b. New York City, 1915; B.S., City Coll. N.Y., 1935; M.A., Columbia, 1937, Ph.D., 1962. Economist, Bd. Of Govrs. Of Fed. Res. System, 1942-62; asst. dir., office of statistic standards, Bur. of the Budget since 1962. ADDRESS 8504 WHITTIER BLVD., BETHESDA, MD 20034
Federal Statistical Directory, 1970
Executive Office of the President. Office of Management and the Budget. Statistical Policy and Management Information Systems Division.
Milton Moss. Chief, Social and Economics Statistics Systems Branch
1985 AEA Biographical Listing, p. 371
MOSS, MILTON, 8504 Whittier Blvd, Bethesda, Md 20817. Fields: 030, 220. Birth Yr: 1915. Degrees: B.S.S., City Coll. of CUNY, 1935; M.A., Columbia U., 1937; Ph.D., Columbia U. 1962. Prin. Cur. Position: Lectr. U. of Md., 1981. Concurrrent/Past Positions. Adj. Prof., U. of Pa., 1978-81; Sr. Res. Consult., U. of Mich., 1973-75. Research: Hist. of thought.
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Milton Moss’s Father-in-law, Naum Jasny
JASNY, NAUM (1883–1967), economist. Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, Jasny obtained a doctorate in law in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). Jasny practiced law for a short time, and then became director of a flour mill in Kharkov, an experience which aroused his interest in economics. After the Russian Revolution he worked on designing food policies for the Soviet government, for which he later undertook economic research in Germany. While there he joined the Business Cycle Research Institute and in 1933, with the coming of Hitler, he moved to the United States where he was appointed senior economist with the Department of Agriculture. From 1939 he was with the Food Research Institute of Stanford University where he prepared forecasts of food availability in allied and enemy countries. After World War II, he worked with the Stanford Soviet Economic Group. Jasny’s main interests were agricultural statistics and economics. His estimates of grain harvests in the U.S.S.R. served for many years as the basis for the investigations into the Soviet military potential. Among Jasny‘s major works are The Socialized Agriculture of the U.S.S.R. (1949); The Wheats of Classical Antiquity (1944); Soviet Industrialization 1928–52 (1961); Soviet Planning (1964), edited by J.T. Degras and A. Nove; and Khrushchev’s Crop Policy (1965). His memoirs were being prepared for publication at the time of his death.
Source: Web article from Encyclopaedia Judaica.
Image Source: “Alma Mater in 2020” by Andrew Henkelman (Creative Commons Licence 4.0) in Wikipedia.