He graduated from Williams College in 1904, studied at Ohio State University and he earned his Doctor of Philosophy at Yale University in 1909. After receiving his Doctor of Philosophy, Brown worked as an instructor under Irving Fisher in the economics department at Yale University until 1915.
Harry Gunnison Brown was burn in Troy, New York to Milton Peers and Elizabeth H. (Gunnison) Brown. While studying at Yale, Brown became a protege of Irving Fisher. Fisher was one of the pioneers in the development of mathematical economics and econometrics in the United States.
Brown held Herbert Davenport in high regard, and in 1915 Brown accepted a position under Davenport in the College of Business at the University of Missouri.
Brown worked under Davenport for one year at Missouri, until Davenport left for a position at Cornell University in 1916. Brown remained at MU, and during his career he became chairman of the economics department as well as dean of the College of Business and Public Administration.
Brown retired from MU in 1950. Foreign much of his career, he was mainly known North America"s foremost advocate of the ideas of a land tax
He is described by Mason Gafney as having refuted:
John Bates Clark"s argument that the unearned increment was constructive
Frank Knight"s argument that land is like all other resources because it has an opportunity cost
Richard T. Ely"s argument that "ripening costs" of land speculators justify urban sprawl.
