In an earlier post that featured a 1955 reading list for a course on industrial organization at Harvard taught by Carl Kaysen and Merton J. Peck, I proudly introduced that artifact with a few details about my first Yale economics professor, Joe Peck. I worked as his “bursary boy” over the next three years, undertaking the tasks of library runs, photocopying, and light editorial work to finance some of the out-of-pocket expenses of my undergraduate life.
Peck was freshly back from the Council of Economics Advisers in the last year of President Johnson’s administration (1968), when I first encountered him as my instructor in the double-credit introductory seminar “Early Concentration Economics” in the Fall of 1969. Incidentally, the seminar was co-taught by another Joe, Joseph Persky, then a visiting lecturer from Harvard, where he was completing his Ph.D. dissertation. From those earlier regional/urban economics research days, Joe Persky has become a distinguished historian of economics.
Two documents regarding Merton J. Peck’s appointment as a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in 1968 are included in this post along with his obituary that was published in the Yale Daily News.
Fun Fact: In the obituary you will find a quote from yet another Joe, Joseph Altonji, now a Yale professor of economics, but then a fellow student with me in the graduate sequence of Statistics and Econometrics at Yale and my successor in the role of student assistant to Joe Peck.
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NOMINATION OF MERTON J. PECK
Monday, February 5, 1968
U.S. Senate, Committee on Banking and Currency
Washington, D.C.
The committee met pursuant to notice at 10:08 a.m., in room 5302, New Senate Office Building, Senator John Sparkman (chairman of the committee) presiding.
Present: Senators Sparkman, Proxmire, McIntyre, Spong, and Bennett.
The CHAIRMAN. The committee is meeting in open hearing on the nomination of Mr. Merton J. Peck of Connecticut to serve as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Mr. Peck was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on December 17, 1925, and attended public schools in Shaker Heights and Medina, Ohio, as well as Evanston, Ill. He served in the Army from 1944 to 1946 with overseas duty in Okinawa and Japan. Mr. Peck graduated from Oberlin College in 1949 and took his graduate training in economics at Harvard, receiving his Ph. D. in 1954. He taught at Harvard College from 1954 to 1955, at the University of Michigan 1955-56, and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration 1956-61. During 1961 and 1962 Mr. Peck served as Assistant Deputy Controller and Director of System Analysis in the office of Charles J. Hitch, the Assistant Secretary of Defense.
In 1963 Mr. Peck was appointed professor of economics at Yale University. In July 1967 he was appointed chairman of the Yale Economics Department.
Mr. Peck, I welcome you to the committee. We are glad to have you with us this morning. We have a more complete biographical sketch which will be printed in the record.
(The information follows:)
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MERTON J. PECK
Merton Joseph Peck was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on December 17, 1925, and attended public schools in Shaker Heights and Medina, Ohio, as well as Evanston, Illinois. He served in the Army from 1944 to 1946, with overseas duty in Okinowa and Japan.
Mr. Peck graduated from Oberlin College in 1949 and took his graduate training in economics at Harvard receiving his Ph. D. in 1954. He taught at Harvard College (1954-1955), University of Michigan (1955-1956), and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration (1956-1961).
During 1961 and 1962 Mr. Peck served as Assistant Deputy Controller and Director of System Analysis in the Office of Charles J. Hitch, the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Controller).
In 1963 Mr. Peck was appointed Professor of Economics at Yale University. In July 1967 he was appointed Chairman of the Yale Economics Department.
Mr. Peck has written Competition in the American Aluminum Industry, 1945–58 (Harvard University Press 1961), and he is a joint author of Economics of Competition in the Transportation Industry (Harvard University Press 1959), Weapons Acquisition: An Economic Analysis (Harvard Business School 1962), Technological Change, Economic Growth and Public Policy (Brookings Institution 1967). He has also contributed articles to various professional journals
Mr. Peck married Mary McClure Bosworth in 1949. They have four children: Richard, age 13; Katherine, age 11; Sarah, age 9; David, age 7. The Pecks reside in New Haven, Connecticut.
Mr. Peck’s parents died when he was young and he was raised by his aunts, Mrs. A. R. Lyon and Miss Olive S. Peck, who now reside in Arlington, Virginia.
Mr. Peck is a member of the American Economic Association, the Econometric Society, and the Association of American University Professors.
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Peck, I also have a letter addressed to me which I shall read into the record.
“DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I regret that previous commitments prevent me from being present this morning to present the President’s nominee as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, Mr. Merton J. Peck.
“It is an honor to introduce Professor Peck to this distinguished committee. Professor Peck was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1925. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1949, after serving 2 years in the Pacific theatre as a member of our Armed Forces. Upon receiving a Ph.D. degree in economics from Harvard, Professor Peck began a distinguished teaching career that led to his appointment last year as chairman of the Yale Economics Department. He now resides with his family in New Haven, Conn.
“Professor Peck combines a background of academic experience and public service, having served for 2 years in the Department of Defense as Assistant Deputy Controller and Director of Systems Analysis. Well known as an author on economic policy, he has published studies of competition in the aluminum and transportation industries. His latest book, published by the Brookings Institution, is “Technological Change, Economic Growth, and Public Policy.’
“I have touched only briefly on the accomplishments of Professor Peck, but they indicate the obvious ability and wide experience he would bring to the Council of Economic Advisers. I strongly urge that his nomination be favorably considered by this committee.
Sincerely,
ABE RIBICOFF.”
That letter will be printed in the record.
Senator BENNETT. Mr. Peck, is your official residence in Connecticut at the moment?
Mr. PECK. Yes, Senator; it is.
The CHAIRMAN. May I say we have the approval of both Senator Dodd and Senator Ribicoff. I may say for the record that accompanying Dr. Peck is Mr. Charles Warden, special assistant to the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Senator BENNETT. Mr. Chairman, the official attitude of the Republicans on this committee has always been that the President is certainly entitled to select his economic advisers and we should under no circumstances raise any question about that privilege.
That is a kind of a negative endorsement, but in addition to that, I think Mr. Peck’s credentials are very impressive and I am sure all of the Republicans will be happy to vote for his approval.
The CHAIRMAN. Very well. Senator Spong?
Senator SPONG. I am impressed with Dr. Peck’s credentials. I would like to ask him a couple of questions, however.
Dr. Peck, have you ever been retained as a consultant by private industry?
Mr. PECK. Yes, I have.
Senator SPONG. Do you intend to end all such activities if you are confirmed and become a member of the Council of Economic Advisers?
Mr. PECK. Yes, I have.
Senator SPONG. You have ended it all?
Mr. PECK. Yes, sir.
Senator SPONG. Thank you.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you have any interest in any undertaking or activity which you feel would constitute a conflict of interest?
Mr. PECK. No, I do not.
The CHAIRMAN. Have you checked your situation with the General Counsel of the Council of Economic Advisers?
Mr. PECK. No, I have not, but I will do so. I have a financial statement that I filed.
The CHAIRMAN. You have filed a financial statement?
Mr. PECK. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. With the Council?
Senator BENNETT. With us.
The CHAIRMAN. Oh, with our committee?
Mr. PECK. Yes, sir.
The CHAIRMAN. Very well; are there any further questions?
Senator BENNETT. No further questions.
The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much Dr. Peck. I wish you a successful and happy tenure in office.
Mr. PECK. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to this unusual post as a unique opportunity to serve and, if I am confirmed, I will do so to the best of my ability.
The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, and we shall hope to see you from time to time.
(Thereupon at 10:15 a.m., the committee went into executive session.)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
(Excerpts from the Employment Act of 1946
and related laws follow):
EMPLOYMENT Act of 1946,
AS AMENDED, AND RELATED LAWS
(60 Stat. 23)
[PUBLIC LAW 304-79TH CONGRESS]
AN ACT To declare a national policy on employment, production, and purchasing power, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SHORT TITLE
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the “Employment Act of 1946 “.
DECLARATION OF POLICY
SEC. 2. The Congress declares that it is the continuing policy and responsibility of the Federal Government to use all practicable means consistent with its needs and obligations and other essential considerations of national policy, with the assistance and cooperation of industry, agriculture, labor, and State and local governments, to coordinate and utilize all its plans, functions, and resources for the purpose of creating and maintaining, in a manner calculated to foster and promote free competitive enterprise and the general welfare, conditions under which there will be afforded useful employment opportunities, including self-employment, for those able, willing, and seeking to work, and to promote maxi mum employment, production, and purchasing power. (15 U.S.C. 1021.)
ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
SEC. 3. (a) The President shall transmit to the Congress not later than January 20 of each year an economic report (hereinafter called the “Economic Report”) setting forth (a) the levels of employment, production, and purchasing power obtaining in the United States and such levels needed to carry out the policy declared in section 2; (2) current and foreseeable trends in the levels of employment, production, and purchasing power; (3) a review of the economic program of the Federal Government and a review of economic conditions affecting employment in the United States or any considerable portion thereof during the preceding year and of their effect upon employment, production, and purchasing power; and (4) a program for carrying out the policy declared in section 2, together with such recommendations for legislation as he may deem necessary or desirable.
(b) The President may transmit from time to time to the Congress reports supplementary to the Economic Report, each of which shall include such supplementary or revised recommendations as he may deem necessary or desirable to achieve the policy declared in section 2.
(c) The Economic Report, and all supplementary reports transmitted under subsection (b) of this section, shall, when transmitted to Congress, be referred to the joint committee created by section 5. (15 U.S.C. 1022.)
COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS
TO THE PRESIDENT
SEC. 4. (a) There is created in the Executive Office of the President a Council of Economic Advisers (hereinafter called the “Council”). The Council shall be composed of three members who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and each of whom shall be a person who, as a result of his training, experience, and attainments, is exceptionally qualified to analyze and interpret economic developments, to appraise programs and activities of the Government in the light of the policy declared in section 2, and to formulate and recommend national economic policy to promote employment, production, and purchasing power under free competitive enterprise.1 The President shall designate one of the members of the Council as Chairman.
(b) The Council is authorized to employ, and fix the compensation of, such specialists and other experts as may be necessary for the carrying out of its functions under this act, without regard to the civil service laws and the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, and is authorized, subject to the civil service laws, to employ such other officers and employees as may be necessary for carrying out its functions under this act, and fix their compensation in accordance with the Classification Act of 1949, as amended.
(c) It shall be the duty and function of the Council—
(1) to assist and advise the President in the preparation of the Economic Report;
(2) to gather timely and authoritative information concerning economic developments and economic trends, both current and prospective, to analyze and interpret such information in the light of the policy declared in section 2 for the purpose of determining whether such development and trends are interfering, or are likely to interfere, with the achievement of such policy, and to compile and submit to the President studies relating to such developments and trends;
(3) to appraise the various programs and activities of the Federal Government in the light of the policy declared in section 2 of this title for the purpose of determining the extent to which such programs and activities are contributing, and the extent to which they are not contributing, to the achievement of such policy and to make recommendations to the President with respect thereto;
(4) to develop and recommend to the President national economic policies to foster and promote free competitive enterprise, to avoid economic fluctuations or to diminish the effects thereof, and to maintain employment, production, and purchasing power;
(5) to make and furnish such studies, reports thereon, and recommendations with respect to matters of Federal economic policy and legislation as the President may request.
(d) The Council shall make an annual report to the President in December of each year.
(e) In exercising its powers, functions, and duties under this act—
(1) the Council may constitute such advisory committees and may consult with such representatives of industry, agriculture, labor, consumers, State and local governments, and other groups as it deems advisable;
(2) the Council shall, to the fullest extent possible, utilize the services, facilities, and information (including statistical information) of other Government agencies as well as of private research agencies, in order that duplication of effort and expense may be avoided.
(f) To enable the Council to exercise its powers, functions, and duties under this act, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
REORGANIZATION PLAN No. 9 of 1953
(Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled, June 1, 1953, pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended)
COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS
The functions vested in the Council of Economic Advisers by section 4 (b) of the Employment Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 24), and so much of the functions vested in the Council by section 4 (c) of that act as consists of reporting to the President with respect to any function of the Council under the said section 4 (c), are hereby transferred to the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. ***
1 The Postal Revenue and Federal Salary Act of 1967 provides that the annual rates of basic compensation shall be $30,000 for the Chairman and $28,750 for the other two members of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Source: On the nomination of Merton J. Peck to be a member of the council of economic advisers, February 5, 1968. Hearing Before the Committee on Banking and Currency, United States Senate. Ninetieth Congress, Second Session.
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Remarks by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the Swearing in of Merton J. Peck as a Member, Council of Economic Advisers, and upon Designating Arthur M. Okun as Chairman
February 15, 1968
Dr. and Mrs. Peck and family, Mr. and Mrs. Okun and family, Secretary Wirtz, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
I want to welcome all of you to this ceremony this morning.
I stand here with one eye wet and one eye dry. Gardner Ackley’s departure saddens me. I would hope that he feels the same way.
When Gardner took the CEA chairmanship more than 3 years ago, the economy was already setting peacetime records. He has kept the curve climbing, turning a youthful boom into a mature and solid 8-year expansion.
Of all the good advice Chairman Ackley has given to me throughout the years, I was happiest to accept one of his fine recommendations to appoint Art Okun as his successor.
Art brings many special talents to this new job. His forecasts are so amazingly accurate that one newspaper once called him the administration’s secret weapon.
Far away from the limelight, he has been invaluable to international monetary policy — to the Treasury Department in developing the Rio Accord — to drafting the new system of Special Drawing Rights. And I am relying heavily on Chairman Okun and the Council to help us move this Nation and all nations towards swift acceptance of these new monetary arrangements.
To fill the Council vacancy, we have Merton Joseph Peck from Yale University.
I am delighted that he joins Jim Duesenberry and Art Okun at this particular time. One of our most urgent concerns in the Nation now is price stability. We have recently created a Cabinet committee to concentrate heavily on this problem. Dr. Peck is an expert on markets. He will bring special insights to price and wage problems arising from structural imperfections in labor markets, product markets, and markets for services.
Looking around us as we meet here this morning, we see more and more evidence of our economic strength. The January unemployment rate, we are pleased to say, was the lowest in more than 14 years. Corporate profits for the last quarter of 1967 were pointing upward again–to new records.
But we cannot rejoice without recognizing the dangers posed by price and cost increases. To preserve our record-breaking prosperity, we must combine it with a return to price stability.
As we have long emphasized, the first order of business is the prompt enactment by the Congress of the penny on the dollar tax increase that we will need to pay for part of our extraordinary defense costs.
Second, we need full cooperation and restraint from business and labor in their price and wage decisions. Excessive wage and excessive price increases can weaken the dollar. They cannot win lasting gains for any group. The short-run sacrifices that we ask promise long-term benefits to all of us.
Third, we must work through the new Cabinet committee for structural improvements in every market — for greater efficiency, greater productivity, and greater incentives for cost-reduction and price competition.
I will continue to look to the Council of Economic Advisers for advice on guarding our prosperity against inflation.
I was talking to someone last night and he was outlining for me the progress that our country has made throughout the years. He said, “Mr. President, there are two things that a leader must never take his mind off of in our political system. You will have many messages and many bills, but two simple rules, I suggest.”
I said, “Tell me what they are” — because he was a man of wisdom and experience and nonpartisanship.
He said, “The first one is the buck-that dollar — it must be sound. It must be stable and people must have some of them. The next one is–you don’t have to be told that one, but I want to remind you every day — the ballot. Because through the ballot people can gain the rewards they think they are entitled to. They can bring about the reforms that are essential. They can turn into motion the revolutions that are inside of all of us and they can bring them to reality and bring them to reality constitutionally and appropriately, and as we human beings should. We don’t have to act like animals to get our revolutions and reforms translated into action. That comes through the ballot.”
So, if my economic advisers are not trained counselors on the ballot, they are on the buck and that seems to be a major portion of a President’s problem. I am going to continue to look to them to guard our prosperity against inflation. They will have the help of the President and I hope they will have the help of the Cabinet and the Congress and the business and labor communities.
The Council today enjoys a worldwide reputation, I think, a reputation of three wise men who have been responsible and are responsible in the future for guiding the American economic miracle.
We expect great things from you, Dr. Peck. I am happy to welcome you officially into the world’s smallest, but the world’s most vital fraternity.
Gardner, you are on sabbatical leave, but we will expect you to carry on your good work across the ocean.
Note:
The President spoke at 1:15 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White House. In his opening words he also referred to Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz. During his remarks he referred to James S. Duesenberry, member of the Council of Economic Advisers, and to Gardner Ackley, outgoing Chairman of the Council, whose nomination as Ambassador to Italy was announced by the President on January 1.Establishment of the Cabinet Committee on Price Stability was announced by the President in his message to the Congress transmitting the Economic Report.
The tax increase referred to by the President was enacted as the Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968.
Source: Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks at the Swearing In of Merton J. Peck as a Member, Council of Economic Advisers, and Upon Designating Arthur M. Okun as Chairman.
Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project
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Professor led the Economics Department during its ‘golden age’
by CYNTHIA HUA
Yale Daily News, 18 March 2013
Merton Peck, a devoted teacher who chaired the Economics Department during its “golden age,” died in Florida on March 1. He was 87 years old.
A respected scholar and administrator, Peck came to Yale as an economics professor in 1963 and served as chair of the Economics Department for several terms in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. His former colleagues remember him for his kind and patient nature and ability to foster compromise during his lengthy tenure. In addition to recruiting many prominent economists to his department, Peck strengthened the faculty by keeping peace and oversaw a period of growth in the department, said Richard Nelson GRD ’56, a former economics professor.
“One of the reasons he stayed in the chair [position] for so long is because he was able to push the department upward and avoided conflict,” said Gustav Ranis GRD ’56, a economics professor. “He didn’t have any enemies.”
When disputes arose in the department, Peck listened to both sides and gently brought arguments to a resolution, Ranis said. He frequently met with faculty individually and ensured that all professors felt their voices were heard, Ranis said, adding that nobody in the department was ever upset under Peck’s leadership.
William Brainard GRD ’63 said Peck was respected among colleagues for the care and attention he devoted to teaching economics. His undergraduate seminars, Brainard said, were often so popular that he had to teach more than one section of the same course.
“He embodied many of the characteristics a professor should strive for, in being both a great scholar and giving a lot to Yale in terms of leadership,” economics professor Joseph Altonji ’75 said.
Brainard said Peck’s congenial personality and clarity of thought made him a sought-after adviser. Altonji, who worked for Peck as a research assistant and took one of his undergraduate courses, said Peck was influential in his decision to pursue a doctorate in economics and, later, to become a professor.
An expert in the economics of technology, Peck specialized in industrial organization and government regulation, producing books and papers that touched on numerous disciplines, including defense, communications and transportation. He served as a member of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s “Brain Trust” and on former President Lyndon Johnson’s Council of Economic Advisors in the 1960s.
Peck earned his bachelor’s degree at Oberlin College in the 1940s, during which time he met his wife, Mary Bosworth Peck, who died in 2004. The couple married in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1949, the year of Peck’s graduation from college. He went on to receive a doctorate in economics from Harvard.
During World War II, Peck served in the Signal Corps in Japan. His service abroad launched a lifelong interest in Japan that led to his later academic interest in the country and technology as an industry, said his son Richard.
Throughout his life, Peck remained modest about his intellectual and administrative achievements, Richard said. Outside of academics, Richard said Peck, who retired in 2002, cultivated a love of reading and jazz music.
Peck is survived by his children, Richard, Katherine, Sarah and David, and four grandchildren.
This article was updated to reflect the version published in print March 25.
Image Source: Chicago Tribune, Jan 4, 1968. Section 1B, p. 10. Newspaper image of Merton J. Peck touched-up at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.