Béla Balassa

Béla Balassa
Born 6 April 1928(1928-04-06)
Budapest, Hungary
Died 10 May 1991(1991-05-10) (aged 63)
Washington, D. C., U. S.
Nationality  Hungary
Fields Economics
Institutions Johns Hopkins University
Alma mater Yale University
University of Budapest
Known for Balassa-Samuelson effect

Béla Balassa (6 April 1928 – 10 May 1991) was a Hungarian economist and world-renowned professor at Johns Hopkins University; most famous for his work on the relationship between purchasing power parity and cross-country productivity differences (Balassa-Samuelson effect).

Balassa received a law degree from the University of Budapest. He left Hungary after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and went to Austria. While there, he received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to study at Yale University, where he received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics in 1958 and 1959, respectively. He won the John Addison Porter Prize for 1959.[1][2]

Beyond economics, Balassa was a noted gourmet who compiled and periodically updated an unofficial guide to eating well in Paris while remaining within an international agency expense allowance, which circulated among his friends and colleagues.[3]

Biography

References

  1. ^ "Bela Balassa, Professor At Johns Hopkins, Dies", The Washington Post, May 11, 1991 .
  2. ^ Szenberg, Michael; Ramrattan, Lall, eds. (2004), Reflections of Eminent Economists, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 26–37, ISBN 1843766280 .
  3. ^ Balassa, Béla. A Primer in Culinary Economics, or How to Maximize the Culinary Utility of the Dollar in Paris. Processed. 8th edition, 1987.