Marcel van Meerhaeghe

Marcel van Meerhaeghe
Born (1921-04-12)April 12, 1921
Wetteren, Belgium
Died March 22, 2014(2014-03-22) (aged 92)
Ghent, Belgium
Nationality Belgian
Alma mater École Royale Militaire, University of Ghent
Spouse(s)
Cecile-Maria Buysse (m. 1939–1998)
Children 1
Scientific career
Fields Economics, International economics, Monetary economics, Political economics, European economy
Institutions Koloniale Hogeschool, NATO Defence College, University of Ghent, Official University of Belgian Kongo and Ruanda-Urundi, Wolfson College, Tilburg University, London School of Economics, University of Turin, Sapienza University of Rome
Thesis Aviation in the traffic economy: the Belgian case in particular (1946)
Doctoral advisor Professor dr. André de Ridder
Doctoral students Gaston Vandewalle, Marc De Clercq[1], Mark Bienstman
Other notable students Wim Meeusen[2], Luc Versele, Freddy Willockx[3], Luc Coene, Walter Cairns[4], Luc Everaert
Influences Gottfried von Haberler

Marcel Alfons Gilbert van Meerhaeghe (Wetteren, April 12th 1921 – Ghent, March 22nd 2014) was a Belgian economist, Professor, publicist and columnist.

M.A.G. van Meerhaeghe was Professor of International Economic Relations at the State University of Ghent.

In his long and distinguished career, Professor van Meerhaeghe gave important contributions to economics and also to the interpretation of economic events. His rare ability to combine theoretical and practical analyses made particularly valuable his scientific works.[5]

Life and career

1939–1987

Initially M. van Meerhaeghe thought about a military career. In 1939 he passed the entrance exams for the École Royale Militaire (ERM). After the campaign of 1940 followed about seven months as a prisoner of war in a German camp (an intervention of King Leopold III resulted in the release of the ERM-students).

At Ghent University (Belgium) van Meerhaeghe obtained a Masters degree in Economic Sciences in 1944 (first diet: July) and a Masters in Political Science and Sociology, also in 1944 (second diet: September). As regards the economics studies he attended the lectures given by Professor Raoul Miry who was the counterpart of Professor Gaston Eyskens of the University of Leuven.[6]

In 1946 he obtained his PhD: Aviation in the traffic economy : the Belgian case in particular.

In 1947 he became part-time lecturer political economy at the Koloniale Hogeschool (Antwerp)[7] and in 1955 part-time lecturer colonial economy at the University of Ghent.

Before becoming Professor of economics and international economics at the University of Ghent in 1957[8], he worked as economic advisor in the Belgian Ministry of Economic Affairs[9], as 'faculty advisor' of the NATO Defence College in Paris (1953-54) and as an advisor to the Minister of Foreign Trade.[10]

His interest covered all types of international academic cooperation and face-to-face interaction, which is why in September 1959 he was appointed visiting professor at the Official University of Belgian Kongo and Ruanda-Urundi in Elisabethville for the courses Histoire des doctrines sociales et économiques and Histoire des doctrines économiques.[11] He obtained a visiting professorship at the universities of Amsterdam in 1962 and Constantine (Algeria) in 1975, as well as becoming a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge in 1973.

Between 1961 and 1969 he was Vice-President and (since 1964) President of the Prices Commission, an advisory body to the Minister for Economic Affairs[12] (replaced in 1969 by the Commission pour la régulation des prix : Royal Decree June 3rd 1969).

Between 1962 and 1969 he was co-opted as a member of the Conseil Central de l'Économie, the umbrella institution of the Belgian federal social and economic dialogue.[13]

Since 1971 he was also a member of the board of the Belgian-Luxemburg Exchange Control (Institut Belgo-Luxembourgeois du Change),[14] chaired by the Governor of the Belgian National Bank[15] : until November 2002 when this institution was dissolved (Euro).

Between 1972 and 1980 he was a member of the conseil général of the Caisse générale d'épargne et de retraite.

At its editors' request, van Meerhaeghe started a column in the Flemish business magazine Trends in 1975.[16] He also featured as a regular columnist in the newspaper The Standaard between 1988 and 1996.

Luc Versele, since 2017 chairman of the Belgian bank Crelan, was an assistent of Professor van Meerhaeghe at Ghent University.[17]

M. van Meerhaeghe was always steadfast in taking a strictly independent line of argument. By all means he was an individualist – one might say a 'loner' – concurring with the suggestion of A. Einstein that the ideal occupation for the theoretical scientist is that of a lighthouse keeper. Unfortunately, sometimes he was misunderstood by persons driven by ignorance, superficiality and envy towards the well-heeled.[18] An example of a rule of best practice that leads to controversy when publicly stated: «A firm that puts the ethical considerations of other stakeholders such as employees first and business second could undermine the overall welfare of the firm and its shareholders/owners and even its employees» (van Meerhaeghe quoted by Professor Tom Turner and Dr. Lorraine Ryan).[19]

A significant part of van Meerhaeghe's work belongs to what is commonly labelled as the American theory of public choice.[20] He advocated great concern for a sound use of government means (struggle against profligacy) and was favourable towards Taxpayers Associations (USA, Sweden, Federal Republic of Germany) that facilitate the contacts between the authorities and the public opinion.[21]

Emeritus

After his Belgian retirement on October 1th 1986[22] van Meerhaeghe was successively visiting professor in international economics and European integration at the Centre of International Studies of the Tilburg University (1987)[23], at the London School of Economics, London University (academic year 1987-88 – the Belgian Chair), at the university of Torino (1989-92: Professor Count di Robilant of the Faculty of Law; 1997-98: Faculty of Economics) and during the academic years 1993-95 at the university of Rome (La Sapienza).

In 1987-1988 he was 'Special Adviser to the Commission of the European Communities', more particularly to Mr Willy De Clercq, former Belgian Vice Prime Minister and a member of the Commission (1985–1989: Commissioner for External Relations, responsible for international relations and foreign trade).[24]

M. van Meerhaeghe was member of the academic advisory council of the Brussels think-tank Institut Européen (Institutum Europaeum : 1979-2002)[25] and the think-tank Centre for the New Europe (1993-2009). At the last one he published The Information Policy of the European Commission (Vol. 4, Zellik April 1995).[26] Since 1988 he was a Life Member of the Mont Pèlerin Society.[27][28]

Between 1986 and 2009 he chaired the Board of Directors of Centrale Kredietverlening (CKV)[29], a small savings bank.[30]

Legacy

M. van Meerhaeghe is the author of 22 books (editor of 4 collective works) and about 160 articles.

Theory must reflect reality

Already early in his career (in an article of 1947[31]) he took a position: he opposed the numerous publications that have no relation whatsoever with reality («struggle for life»)[32] and especially deplored the mania for addressing everything with mathematics. He was in favor of operational economics, helpful to practitioners (nützlich).[33] Later he elaborated his criticism in Economic Theory. A Critic's Companion (Martinus Nijhoff 1980), probably his most important work. It caused quite a stir because of its unconventional approach. (K. Nakaura published a Japanese translation.) Guy Routh wrote a favourable review in The Economic Journal (Vol. 91, No. 362, June 1981, pp. 589–605): "Professor van Meerhaeghe's book is a masterpiece of condensation[34]: a review of economic theory from Plato to Friedman, with the faults exposed, in 109 pages of text. Six chapters deal with the main divisions of the subject (consumer behaviour, producer behaviour, price, income distribution, general level of income and prices, growth, and international trade), one with its practicability, one with its significance, and an appendix added that surveys thirteen types of theory. The preface modestly disclaims any intention of instructing fellow economists. The book is intended as a complement to an introductory course in economics. It is reminiscent of a surveyors report of a tumble-down house. It is unfit for human habitation, one would be mad to buy it, but one does, patches it up together as best one can, and inhabits it contentedly, gradually becoming inured to its defects." G. Routh's conclusion is brief and to the point : "This guarantees van Meerhaeghe's slim volume a long life. I fear that in ten years time its criticisms will be as valid and as relevant as they are today". He proved to be something of an optimist: they remain as valid today as they did in 1981.

Books

As the most significant pieces of work we mention:

  • Theorie van de Economische Politiek (Stenfert Kroese, Leiden 1962), a sound textbook on economic policy featuring contributions from Dutch and Belgian experts: among others J.E. Andriessen (ed.), Pieter Hennipman and H.W. Lambers. The contribution of M. van Meerhaeghe (ed.) was the chapter on international economic policy. Professor P. Hennipman, arguably the finest Dutch economic theorist ever, dedicated his Welvaartstheorie en economische politiek (Samsom, Alphen a/d Rijn 1977) to M. van Meerhaeghe (p. 5).[35]
  • International Economic Institutions (Longmans, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 7 editions between 1966[36][37] and 1998). A review about the fourth edition: «...those readers who are looking for factual information in the field of international European and other regional organizations now have at their disposal a new and very useful survey of this world of abbreviations and what is behind it.»[38] In the conclusion of the last edition van Meerhaeghe deals with such subjects as proliferation (cf. the CoCom and his successor) and the need for rationalisation and escape clauses. 7th edition: Kluwer Academic Publishers ISBN 0-7923-8072-X; Springer ISBN 978-0-7923-8072-6.
  • Economics: Britain and the EEC (Longmans, London 1969): contributions by a.o. Harry Johnson, John Pinder, Dennis Swann.
  • Economics, A critical approach (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London 1971).[39][40][41]
  • International Economics (Longman Group Limited/Prentice Hall Press, London, Crane Russak, New York 1972).[42] Particularly the chapter The operation of the international monetary system, pp. 216–237.
  • Economic Theory. A Critic's Companion (H.E. Stenfert Kroese, Antwerp/Martinus Nijhoff, Boston, Lancaster 1980, 2nd ed. 1986). 2nd edition: Springer ISBN 978-9-4017-1367-2.
  • Belgium and EC Membership Evaluated (Pinter, London 1992) : contributions by 14 authors, a.o. Filip Abraham, Roger Blanpain, Marc Quintyn and Jef Vuchelen (cf. note 24).

Lectures

Teaching international economics results in delivering lectures at a variety of universities and international conferences: Warsaw (1961), Geneva (Conference on science and technology in promoting the development of developing countries[43]), Pretoria (1964; Cultural Treaty between South-Africa, the Netherlands and Belgium[44]), Bratislava, Reggio Calabria, Hull, Prague (1969 an 1989), Iasi (1971), Alvor[45], Vienna (U.N.I.D.O.[46]), Berlin, Uppsala, New York, Cracow (1977), Sofia, Naples, Florence, Moscow (1992), Jena, Orel, Yekaterinburg[47], Valencia, Göteborg, Porto, Lisbon, Venice (2001), etc. Some lectures were later published as an essay in their own right, e.g.:

  • Die Entwicklung der Wirtschaft im Kongo. Folgerungen für die Theorie des Wirtschaftswachstums (Nürnberger Vorträge, 1965).
  • Aktuelle Probleme der belgischen Wirtschaftspolitik (Kieler Vorträge, Heft 43, Institut für Weltwirtschaft an der Universität, Kiel 1966).

In order to understand economic problems, at all times the contemporary political, social, psychological and cultural factors have to be taken into account (the role of context: are the assumptions vindicated or wrongheaded ?). Relentlessly van Meerhaeghe insisted upon the necessity of knowledge of the historic backgrounds. Indeed, as history was his favoured subject area, since 1999 he was very active for the Annual Heilbronn Symposium in Economics and the Social Sciences[48] because it goes back to the old masters, i.e. the German classicists of the 19th (and even 18th) century. The German universities attracted many foreign students with a knowledge of German. Nowadays, some of these 'scholars' tend to invent theories which had already been formulated in Germany during the 19th century. Hence the observation, made in Economic Theory (see above) that «far too often in economics, conclusions that were already formulated long ago are drawn triumphantly» (p. 4). We mention :

  • The lost chapter of Schumpeter’s ‘Economic Development’ in Joseph Aloïs Schumpeter. Entrepreneurship, style and vision, ed. J. Backhaus, The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences, Vol. 1, Kluwer, Boston, Dordrecht, London 2003, pp. 233–244. M. van Meerhaeghe considers Schumpeter as ‘superior’ to Keynes because of his better knowledge of the economic science and his unsurpassed ‘History of economic analysis’.
  • The international aspects of Justi’s work, in The beginnings of Political Economy. Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi, ed J. Backhaus, The European Heritage in Economics and the Social Sciences, Vol. 7, Springer, New York 2009, pp. 99–110. Justi might have been expected to adopt a protectionist and nationalist stance, but instead he comes across as an 'anti-Machiavelli' in his foreign-policy nostrums and a liberal in his views on foreign trade and population policy.
  • Globalisation: concept, outcome, future – a continental view[49], European Journal of Law and Economics, April 2012, Vol. 33, Iss. 2 (Essays in honour of Dr. Reginald Hansen, °1919), pp. 239–306. Van Meerhaeghe examines the dominant political, social and economic trends of our time: multiculturalism and immigration versus patriotism and regionalism, capitalism versus state governance, America versus the rest of the world. He concludes that nothing seems to halt the triumphant progress of globalisation.

Selected articles

Van Meerhaeghe was also a prolific author of acticles. A selection:

  • Regional Policy of the European Communities, The Maastricht ISINI-Papers (University of Maastricht)[51], ed. Professor Gerrit Meijer, 2000, Volume II, Shaker Publishing.
  • Bismarck and the social question, Journal of Economic Studies, Sept. 2006, Vol. 33, Iss. 4, pp. 284–301.[52] Discussing the political consequences of social welfare legislation, and in particular its effects on the Social Question. Otto von Bismarck (at some time ambassador for Prussia in Saint-Petersburg) did not expect that the Social Question could be solved within a generation or two (p. 285). Although von Bismarck's position passed through many important alterations, one aim remains unchanged: guarantee the stability and social peace of the state.
  • Capitalism and the 2008 crisis, Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice, Vol. XXVI, 2008-2/3, pp. 155–181. This paper considers the factors that lead to the crisis from a specific perspective – essentially the absence of adequate regulation – and is informed by earlier research and by van Meerhaeghe's experience in banking and certain government institutions. Is capitalism the appropriate term when the entire financial system has to be saved by the public sector? Under capitalism, the investor must accept responsibility for the losses he incurs. But the banks received no advice from the universities, even though they were urgently pressed for such assistance. The EU countries have come to realize that the free movement of capital has come too early.

References

  1. ↑ M. De Clercq, Een economische theorie van het antivervuilingsbeleid, met een toepassing op België (University of Ghent 1980).
  2. ↑ Guido Erreygers, Mieke Vermeire (Eds.), Macroeconomics and Beyond: Essays in Honour of Wim Meeusen (Maklu/Garant, Antwerp/Apeldoorn 2012), p. 9.
  3. ↑ F. Willockx, Hier klopt mijn hart (Meulenhoff/Manteau, Antwerp 2010).
  4. ↑ W. Cairns, Introduction to European Union Law (Routledge, Cavendish 1997).
  5. ↑ Obituary by Professor Domenico da Empoli (La Sapienza University, Rome) in Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice (from 1983 until 1997: Economia delle Scelte Pubbliche), Vol. XXX, 2012-1/3, p. 123 (published in 2014).
  6. ↑ Bulletin d'Information et de Documentation, Banque Nationale de Belgique, Vol. II, N° 1, July 1937, editorial by Louis Franck (Governor), pp. 1–6.
  7. ↑ M. van Meerhaeghe, De Economische Structuur van Belgisch-Kongo en Ruanda-Urundi (Ontwikkeling, Antwerp 1958).
  8. ↑ Sartonia (George Sarton Chair of the History of Sciences), Volume 19 (Academia Press, Ghent 2006), pp. 191–193.
  9. ↑ In 1945 he had started using data about the local economic policy in the town of Mechelen.
  10. ↑ D. Hesbois et al., Inventaire des archives de Jean-Charles, baron Snoy et d'Oppuers (1848-1961), State Archives in Belgium, BE-A0510 (Brussels 1988), pp. 96 and 183 (correspondence of 1956).
  11. ↑ Rijksuniversiteit te Gent, Liber Memorialis 1913-1960, Deel III (ed. by prof. Theo Luykx) pp. 216–218.
  12. ↑ M. van Meerhaeghe, The Belgian Prices Commission, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, Hambourg, IC, Bd. 99, n° 2, 4. Trimester 1967, pp. 257–273.
  13. ↑ Le conseil central de l'économie: Fonctionnement réel et activité, comparaison avec le projet de loi organisant la fusion du C.C.E. et du conseil national du travail (III), Courrier Hebdomadaire du Centre de Recherche et d'Informations Socio-Politiques, juin 1964/20 (n° 245-246), p. 33.
  14. ↑ M.A.G. van Meerhaeghe, The Belgium-Luxemburg Economic Union, Tilburg, SUERF Series 54 A, 1987. (A series of papers about monetary politics and financial systems of the Société Universitaire Européenne de Recherches Financières, founded near Paris in 1963.)
  15. ↑ Chambre des Représentants, Session 1974-1975, 19 novembre 1974, 277 N° 6, Projet de Loi relatif aux propositions budgétaires 1974-1975, Rapport fait au nom de la Commission du Budget par M. d'Alcantara, Chapitre I : Contrôle des changes, p. 4.
  16. ↑ There, since 1978, he worked with Johan Van Overtveldt who later became the chief editor: J. Van Overtveldt, The Chicago School (Agate, Chicago 2007).
  17. ↑ Luc Versele - de flandrien van het bankwezen, DURF DENKEN - Communitymagazine van de UGENT, January 2016, pp. 24–27.
  18. ↑ Peter Heyrman, Inventaris van het archief André Vlerick (1919-1990), p. 187 (Kadoc, Leuven 2002).
  19. ↑ T. Turner and L. Ryan, Corporate social responsibility and independent employee representation: A Case of ethical confusion and contradictions, in Proceedings of the 11th Multidisciplinary Academic Conference (MAC Prague consulting s.r.o., Prague 2017), pp. 78–86.
  20. ↑ Russell S. Sobel and Jennis J. Taylor, The Last 30 Years of Public Choice: An Analysis of Author and Institution Rankings, Public Choice, September 2004, Volume 120, Iss. 3-4, pp. 331–352.
  21. ↑ M.A.G. van Meerhaeghe, Een bond van belastingbetalers? (Trends, March 1th 1979, pp. 57–58), quoted in Fr. Loeckx and R. Van Dionant, Eléments de la Science des Impôts, Part 2 (Ministry of Finance, Brussels 1982), p. 393.
  22. ↑ 25 jaar Faculteit Economische Wetenschappen RUG 1968-1993, eds. L. De Smet and J. Denduyver (Fac. Ec. en Toegepaste Ec. Wet., Ghent October 1993), pp. 6 and 32.
  23. ↑ Economologues - Liber Amicorum voor Theo van de Klundert, ed. by A.B.T. van Schaik (Tilburg University, Department of Economics, 2001), pp. 24–25.
  24. ↑ At that time van Meerhaeghe was also a member of 'Europe-12 – Research and Action Committee on the EC', created in 1986. This committee published the series European Community Membership Evaluated.
  25. ↑ Joseph Schumpeter, Methodological Individualism, Michiel van Notten's translation of chapter VI of Schumpeter's (1908) Wesen und Hauptinhalt der theoretischen Nationalökonomie (Institutum Europaeum, Brussels 1980), p. i.
  26. ↑ Do Ideas Matter? Essays in Honour of Gerard Radnitzky, ed. by Hardy Bouillon (CNE, Brussels July 2001), p. 160.
  27. ↑ Jacques Van Offelen, Mont Pèlerin Society - Inventory of the General Meeting Files 1947-1998 (Liberaal Archief vzw, Ghent 2004), p. 70.
  28. ↑ Michiel De Vydt, Hayeks Historici: Een intellectuele geschiedenis van de Mont Pèlerin Society en Hayeks bekommernis om de rol van de historicus als opiniemaker (Universiteit Gent 2016), p. 86.
  29. ↑ Commissie voor het Bank- en Financiewezen - Prudentieel Toezicht, Ciculaire D1 357 aan de revisoren (depositobeschermingsregeling), March 2nd 1995, p. 3.
  30. ↑ Annual report 2006 (Waregem 2007).
  31. ↑ M. van Meerhaeghe, Overzicht van de economische toestand van Belgisch-Kongo, in Kongo-Overzee, XII-XIII, 1946-1947, nr. 5, pp. 287–313.
  32. ↑ See also M. van Meerhaeghe, De la théorie à la politique économique. La comptabilité nationale, Industrie. Revue de la Fédération des Industies Belges, April 1950, pp. 202–205.
  33. ↑ Fernand Goyens, Marktgericht: Professor M.A.G. van Meerhaeghe, ekonomie, RUG, Knack Magazine (16de jaargang), September 1th 1986 (Special edition), pp. 24–26.
  34. ↑ Selectivity was indeed a characteristic of van Meerhaeghe: see e.g. the review of the textbook Economics of R.G. Lipsey and P.O. Steiner by H.J. Klok in De Economist, Vol. 115, Iss. 2, March 1967, pp. 256–259.
  35. ↑ English translation : Welfare Economics and the Theory of Economic Policy (Edward Elgar Publishing, Aldershot 1995).
  36. ↑ See the review by John Pincus in The American Economic Review, Vol. 57, No. 5 (December 1967), pp. 1391–1392.
  37. ↑ Bibliographie zur Europäischen Integration (Europa Union Verlag, Köln 1970), p. 12.
  38. ↑ De Economist, Vol. 133, Iss. 4, December 1985.
  39. ↑ Economics: A Critical Approach by M.A.G van Meerhaeghe, review by Prof. Colin Desmond Harbury, Economica, Vol. 39, No. 155, August 1972, pp. 327–328.
  40. ↑ Economics: a Critical Approach. By M.A.G. van MEERHAEGHE, review by Jack R.S. Revell, The Economic Journal, Vol. 82, No. 327 (September 1972), pp. 1068–1070.
  41. ↑ For a review of the first Dutch edition by Prof. dr. J. Tinbergen: De Economist, Vol. 107, Iss. 1, December 1959, pp. 226–228.
  42. ↑ Described as 'brilliant' by the English Professor John Vaizey.
  43. ↑ R. Vandenbroeck - Rijksuniversiteit te Gent, Universitair Leven, n° 54, May 1th 1963, p. 5.
  44. ↑ Prof. dr. H.J.J.M. van der Merwe, Verslag aangaande die Republiek van Suid-Afrika over 1965, in Prof. Dr. C.A. Zaalberg, Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde 1966 (E.J. Brill, Leiden 1967), pp. 51–56.
  45. ↑ Charles P. Kindleberger and Andrew Shonfield (eds.), North American and Western European Economic Policies, Proceedings of a Conference held by the International Economic Association at Alvor (Portugal), International Economic Association Conference Volumes, Number 29 (Palgrave Macmillan UK, London 1971), passim.
  46. ↑ United Nations Industrial Development Organization: R. Vandenbroeck - Rijksuniversiteit te Gent, Universitair Leven, n° 154, November 30th 1973, p. 19.
  47. ↑ Institutional aspects of regionalism in a Pan-European context, Second Belgian-Russian Scientific Seminar, 1-9 July 1996 Yekaterinburg, ed. by Katlijn Malfliet and Veniamin V. Alekseev, pp. 32–36.
  48. ↑ A forum for the reconsideration of the traditions of the Historical School.
  49. ↑ Written for the Heilbronn Symposia.
  50. ↑ See also Parlement Européen - Direction générale de la documentation parlementaire et de l'information, Cahiers de documentation européenne, 10e année, n° 3, juillet - septembre 1968, p. 19/B.
  51. ↑ International Society for the Intercommunication of New Ideas (http://www.isini.info).
  52. ↑ Paper presented at the 15th Heilbronn Symposion on "The Social Question", June 20-23, 2002.
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