Walter Bagehot

1826–1877

Nationality: English

Historical Period: The 19th Century

Walter Bagehot (1826-1877), a British journalist and early editor of The Economist, specialized in institutional economic issues. He had a particular interest in central banks, interest rates, and the money supply. His writings on how monetary institutions (today called Central Banks) behave and why, and how they interact with “credit cycles” (today called business cycles) influenced later institutions from the Federal Reserve System to the International Monetary Fund. [The image comes from “The Warren J. Samuels Portrait Collection at Duke University.”]

• Author: Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market
• Author: The Postulates of English Political Economy
• Author: The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, 10 vols.