{{short description|American economist (1902–1991)}} '''Joseph John Spengler''' (19 November 1902 – 2 January 1991) was an American economist, statistician, and historian of economic thought.<ref name = "Kelley">Kelley (March 1992), p. 142</ref> A recipient of the 1951 John Frederick Lewis Award of the American Philosophical Society<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=John Frederick Lewis Award |url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/prizes/john-frederick-lewis-award |access-date=December 11, 2024 |website=American Philosophical Society}}</ref> and the 1981 Distinguished Fellow Award from the History of Economics Society,<ref>History of Economics Society, [http://historyofeconomics.org/Fellows.cfm Distinguished Fellow Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111221055210/http://historyofeconomics.org/Fellows.cfm |date=2011-12-21 }}</ref> he was Professor Emeritus of Economics at Duke University at the time of his death.
==Biography== Spengler was born in Piqua, Ohio. He graduated from the Piqua High School and initially studied journalism at college, but dropped out after his first year to become a crime reporter.<ref>[http://econ.duke.edu/about/history/individuals/joseph-j-spengler "Interview with Joseph J. Spengler," ''Oeconophile'', Vol. 1, No. 2, January 1974] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120712000053/http://econ.duke.edu/about/history/individuals/joseph-j-spengler |date=2012-07-12 }} reprinted in the Duke University Archives</ref> A year later he returned to higher education, at first studying sociology and political science, but eventually gravitating to economics. He received his B.A., M.A., and PhD from Ohio State University, where his 1930 doctoral dissertation was a comparative study on the fertility rates of native-born and immigrant women in the United States.<ref>Spengler, Joseph J. [http://library.ohio-state.edu/record=b2677961~S7 ''The comparative fertility of the native and the foreign-born women in parts of the United States''], Ohio State University Library catalog entry.</ref> After a stint teaching at the University of Arizona he joined the faculty of Duke University in 1932, initially as a visiting professor, and became a permanent member of the faculty in 1934.<ref>Durden (1993) p. 126</ref> He remained there until his retirement as the James B. Duke Professor of Economics in 1972. With Earl J. Hamilton, Spengler established the university's first graduate level program in Economic History as well as the History of Political Economy (HOPE) research group.<ref>[http://econ.duke.edu/HOPE/CENTER/center_history.php A History of the HOPE Group] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610025704/http://econ.duke.edu/HOPE/CENTER/center_history.php |date=2010-06-10 }} at Duke University</ref>
During World War II, he worked for the Office of Price Administration as the price executive for the Southeastern region of the United States and over the years held several other advisory posts to the US government and the United Nations. His interest in population studies and the demographic aspects of economics reflected in his doctoral dissertation, became a major focus of his research and writing throughout his career. His first book, ''France Faces Depopulation'', published in 1938, examined the cultural and political causes of France's pre-World War II population decline,<ref>Silk (4 January 1991)</ref> and one of his last major books was ''The Economics of Individual and Population Aging'', published in 1980. In 1972, Duke University Press published a collection of his classic essays in the area: ''Population Economics: Selected Essays of Joseph J. Spengler''.
Joseph Spengler died in Durham, North Carolina from Alzheimer's disease at the age of 88.<ref name = "Cook">Cook (3 January 1991)</ref> He was survived by his wife, the former Dorothy Marie Kress. The couple married in 1927 and were co-authors of "Maintenance of Postwar Full Employment" (1944).<ref>Spengler and Spengler (1944)</ref><ref>Cook (1938) p. 701</ref> Spengler's 1978 book, ''Facing Zero Population Growth: Reactions and Interpretations, Past and Present'' has the dedication: <blockquote>To Dorothy Kress Spengler, my wife, companion, and co-worker for fifty years<ref>Spengler (1978) p. v</ref></blockquote>
Spengler was a member of both the American Philosophical Society (1954) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1964).<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Joseph+J.+Spengler&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Joseph John Spengler |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/joseph-john-spengler |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> In 2004, the History of Economics Society established the annual Joseph J. Spengler Prize for the best book published on the history of economics.<ref>History of Economics Society, [http://historyofeconomics.org/Spengler.cfm Joseph J. Spengler Prize] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707055141/http://historyofeconomics.org/Spengler.cfm |date=2011-07-07 }}</ref>
==Selected publications of Joseph J. Spengler== * 1938. ''France Faces Depopulation''. Duke Univ. Press. First-page chapter-preview [https://www.questia.com/read/10538650 links]{{dead link|date=July 2021}} * 1950. "Vertical Integration and Antitrust Policy," ''Journal of Political Economy'', 58(4), p [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1828887 p. 347]-352 (from JSTOR). * 1951. "The Population Obstacle to Economic Betterment," ''American Economic Review'', 41(2), p [https://www.jstor.org/pss/1910809 p. 343]-354. * 1964. "Economic Thought of Islam: Ibn Khaldun," ''Comparative Studies in Society and History'', 6(3), p [https://www.jstor.org/pss/177577 p. 268]-306. * 1966. "Values and Fertility Analysis," ''Demography'', 3(1), p [https://www.jstor.org/pss/2060067 p. 109]-130. * 1966. "The Economist and the Population Question," ''American Economic Review'', 56(1/2), pp. 1–24 * 1971. ''Indian Economic Thought: A Preface to Its History''. Duke University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8223-0245-2}}. * 1972. ''Population Economics: Selected Essays of Joseph J. Spengler'', Robert S. Smith ''et al.'', ed. Duke Univ. Press. Review [https://www.jstor.org/pss/2063060 extract.] * 1980. ''Origins of Economic Thought and Justice'', Southern Illinois University Press. 1st-page chapter [https://www.questia.com/read/59213409 links] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810012211/http://www.questia.com/read/59213409 |date=2011-08-10 }} * 1980. ''The Economics of Individual and Population Aging''. With Robert L. Clark. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LkE5AAAAIAAJ Description] & chapter-preview [https://books.google.com/books?id=LkE5AAAAIAAJ links] on Google Books.
==Notes and references== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Sources== *Cook, Joan, [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20611F63B5E0C708CDDA80894D9494D81 "Joseph Spengler, 88, Economics Professor At Duke University"], ''New York Times'', 3 January 1991. *Cook, Robert Cecil (ed.), "Spengler, Joseph John", [https://books.google.com/books?id=YK8eAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Spengler,+Joseph%22++Piqua+Kress ''Who's Who in American Education: A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Living Educators of the United States''], Volume 8, 1938 *Durden, Robert Franklin, [https://books.google.com/books?id=M1XhMW_vK6EC&dq=%22Joseph+J.+Spengler%22&pg=PA126 ''The Launching of Duke University, 1924-1949''], Duke University Press, 1993. {{ISBN|0-8223-1302-2}} *Kelley, Allen C., [https://www.jstor.org/pss/986806 "Joseph J. Spengler (November 19, 1902-January 2, 1991)"], ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'', Vol. 136, No. 1, (March 1992), pp. 142–147 *Silk, Leonard, [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20614FD3F5E0C778CDDA80894D9494D81 "The Rich Legacy of an Economist"], ''New York Times'', 4 January 1991 *Spengler, Dorothy K. and Spengler, Joseph J, "Maintenance of Postwar Full Employment" in ''The Winning Plans in the Pabst Postwar Employment Awards'', Pabst Brewing Company, 1944, pp. 79–83 *Spengler, Joseph J. [https://books.google.com/books?id=XlxqAAAAMAAJ&q=Dorothy+Kress++Spengler ''Facing Zero Population Growth: Reactions and Interpretations, Past and Present''], Duke University Press, 1978. ;Further reading * Blaug, Mark (ed.), "Spengler, Joseph L.", ''Who's Who in Economics'' (3d edition), E. Elgar, 1999. {{ISBN|1-85898-886-1}} * Silk, Leonard, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100613104254/http://lupus.econ.duke.edu/History/Spengler/Silk.pdf "The Economics of Joseph J. Spengler"], ''Demography India'', 14 (1), 1986, pp. 137–145 * Sobel, Irvin, "Joseph J. Spengler: The Institutionalist Approach to the History of Economics" in ''Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology'', Vol.1, 1983, pp. 243–270.
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100613104610/http://lupus.econ.duke.edu/History/Spengler/retirement.html Transcript from Spengler's Retirement Dinner], Duke University, January 14, 1972 *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100612090837/http://econ.duke.edu/uploads/assets/history/Spengler_CV.pdf CV: Joseph J. Spengler], Duke University Archives. *[https://archive.today/20120712000053/http://econ.duke.edu/about/history/individuals/joseph-j-spengler Joseph J. Spengler], Duke University *[http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/spenglerjosephjohn/ Joseph John Spengler Papers, [ca. 1896<nowiki>]</nowiki>-1987], David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. *{{cite web|title=Joseph J. Spengler|url=https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=au%3A%22Joseph+J.+Spengler%22+&acc=off&wc=on&fc=off&group=none|publisher=JSTOR}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spengler, Joseph J.}} Category:1902 births Category:1991 deaths Category:Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Category:Ohio State University faculty Category:University of Arizona faculty Category:University of Chicago faculty Category:University of Pittsburgh faculty Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Category:Duke University faculty Category:Historians of economic thought Category:Fellows of the American Statistical Association Category:20th-century American historians Category:Presidents of the American Economic Association Category:Distinguished fellows of the American Economic Association Category:Economists from Arizona Category:20th-century American economists Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society