Background
Brunner, Karl was born on February 16, 1916 in Zurich, Switzerland. Son of William and Ida (Maulaz) Brunner.
Brunner, Karl was born on February 16, 1916 in Zurich, Switzerland. Son of William and Ida (Maulaz) Brunner.
Student, University Zurich, 1937. Student, London School of Economics, 1938. Doctor of Philosophy (honorary), University Louvain, Belgium.
Research Association, Swiss National Bank, 1943-1945. Lector, Handelshochschule, St Gáleen, 1946-1949. Research Association, Swiss Institute, Institution International Economics, 1945-1948.
Adviser, Swiss Watch Chamber Commerce, 1948-1949. Consultant, European Economie Community, 1948-1949. Assistant Professor, Association Professor, Professor, University of California, Los Angeles, Calif., United States of America, 1951-1957, 1957-1962, 1962-1966.
Visiting Professor, University Wisconsin, 1965, Michigan State University, 1965-1966, Northwestern University, 1966. Everett Reese Professor, Ohio State University, 1966-1971. Fred H. Go wen Professor of Economics, University Rochester, Professor of Economics, University Berne, since 1971.
Editor, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 1969-1974, 7 Mon E, 1974-1984.
Three strands of ideas have attracted my attention over the past thirty years. Monetary theory had already stirred my interest in Switzerland. An increasing interest concerning the nature of our cognitive endeavours directed my attention to philosophy of science.
These two strands occupied most of my time during the 1950s and 1960s, and influenced each other. My research in the field of money supply analysis reveals this aspect most clearly. This was motivated by a realisation that the literature offered at best some fragments of a theory explaining the behaviour of the money stock.
This
work eventually ignited a growing interest in the nature and role of monetary policy-making and the role of institutional arrangements. The questions pursued were also extended to address the nature of the interaction between the real sector and the monetary sector. This extension was motivated by a basic dissatisfaction with the dominant paradigm expressed by the standard IS/LM framework, which under one possible interpretation seems false, and under the alternative interpretation seems to suffer from a very limited range of application.
The last strand of my interests gradually emerged in the early 1970s, which I began to appreciate the importance of an analysis directed to understanding of political institutions.
This appreciation was initially fostered by an interest in the central bank behaviour and the drift into a pattern of policy with an inflationary bias. This perspective led to exploration of the nature of substantive issues underlying apparently ‘ideological’ conflicts. Work in the range of the political economy of alternative institutional orders and the analysis of alternative explanations of the business cycle will occupy my future agenda.
Past member American Economic Association.
Married Rosmarie Enderle, September 20, 1945.