Stockholm Papers in Economic History
Department of Economic History, Stockholm University
No 2:
A hidden duel: Gunnar Myrdal and Dag Hammarskjöld in Economics and International Politics 1935-1955
Örjan Appelqvist ()
Abstract: Characterizes conflict and cooperation in the intertwined
careers of Gunnar Myrdal and Dag Hammarskjöld as economists, actors in
Swedish policy 1940-1947 and international civil servants, Myrdal being
Executive Secretary of the UN ECE 1947-1957 and Hammarskjöld being General
Secretary of the UN 1951-1961. In economics the difference between dynamic
and neoclassical approaches are noted. It contrasts Myrdal’s very early
formulation of growth oriented financial policy with the very lasting
refusal of counter-cyclical policies of the Swedish government under the
influence of Hammarskjöld. In regard to official US postwar policies their
differences are highlighted from the pre-cold war period as well as from
the early fifties, Myrdal defending a ‘universalist’ position trying to
defend the ECE against power policy intrusion whereas Hammarskjöld wanted
to ‘proceed with caution’ in regard to what he considered to be ‘a friendly
government’.
Their differences are traced to personal backgrounds while
at the same time expressing principal dilemmas facing civil servants in
international organisations in a political climate of strong tensions
between national interests.
Keywords: Swedish economic policy; history of economic ideas; intellectual history of United Nations; Gunnar Myrdal; Dag Hammarskjöld; (follow links to similar papers)
JEL-Codes: B25; B31; (follow links to similar papers)
26 pages, December 27, 2008
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