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“A fascinating, exciting story.”
— Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind
While still in his early 20s, and under Hitler's shadow, Leonid “Leo” Hurwicz (1917-2008) left his home in Warsaw, Poland, seeking safety and a degree at the London School of Economics. The following years, while challenging and potentially life-threatening, contained the seeds of a lifelong intellectual adventure. Leo's story is personal (born a refugee, precarious war years for himself and his Polish-Jewish family, a new life in America), global (revolutions, wars, depressions), ideological (socialism, capitalism, economic planning, free markets) and professional (a sixty-year career as a professor of economics leading ultimately to a Nobel Prize). This book tells his story.
“Some of the most interesting chapters in the book are those that offer a wealth of family and biographical information. The book is not simply a factual biography but seeks to develop a theme that is made clear from the beginning: wars and economic depressions shaped Hurwicz's outlook on the world and molded his economics. The tone is overall enthusiastic, and historians of economics should see this biography as an invitation to further inquire into Hurwicz's contributions.”
—Vincent Carret, History of Political Economy
“A fascinating, exciting story.”
— Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind
Washington state-based writer Michael Hurwicz has long been fascinated by his father's journey as a Polish Jew from 1930s Warsaw to America and ultimately a Nobel Prize in Economics. Michael's book reflects deep archival research as well as conversations with his father, immediate and extended family, friends, students, and colleagues.
Acknowledgements
Prologue
1939, sierpień/août/August
Born a Refugee
Now or Never
Home Safe?
Get an Education!
The Miracle
Hurwicz Home School
Crisis, Coup, Catastrophe
Astrophysics, Chopin and Jazz
Economics and Einstein
Socialist Calculation
Brown Shirts and Ghetto Benches
Graduation Getaway
Math, Models and Mechanisms
Government Intervention
A Lifeline
Hurwiczes on the Run
An Intellectual Warrior at the School for Peace
Leo Hurwicz: “Excess Foreign Population”
Geneva to Chicago by Way of Locarno, Barcelona and Lisbon
Chicago and MIT
Surprise Attack
Honey
A Little Bit Unruly
The Great Book Review
A Slow and Difficult Process
Just a Closer Walk with Stan
Blood, Fire, Smoke, Exile and Human Kindness
Mechanism Design: Development and Recognition
Appendix A. Leo’s Memorial
Appendix B. A Celebration of Leo's 90th Birthday, Held at the Holiday Inn Metrodome, 1500 Washington Avenue South, in Minneapolis on April 14, 2007
Appendix C. The Theory of Economic Behavior, by Leonid Hurwicz
Appendix D. The Hurwicz Criterion
Appendix E. Edited transcript of 2007 interview with Leo, conducted by the author
Appendix F. A Timeline of the Life of Leo Hurwicz
Appendix G. What Is Mechanism Design?