Een terugblik op Mr. N. G. Pierson

Summary Dr. Holtrop's address on the occasion of the award of the Dr. N. G. Pierson medal to Professor C. Goedhart and to Professor G. A. Kessler answers the question why it is still meaningful to commemorate Dr. N. G. Pierson (1839–1909), the foremost Dutch economist of the 19th century. Pierson was successively a managing director and later governor of the Nederlandsche Bank (1868–1891), a professor of economics (1877–1886), a minister of finance (1891–1894 and 1897–1901) and a prime-minister (1897–1901). A brief outline is given of Pierson's publications in the fields of (1) methodology, (2) the social problem, (3) the international monetary system, and (4) equitable taxation. The address concludes with a quotation from Alfred Marshall's last letter to Pierson.

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Oud-president van de Nederlandsche Bank.

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Tekst van een toespraak, gehouden als voorzitter van de Stichting Mr. N. G. Pierson Fonds, ter gelegenheid van de uitreiking der Mr. N. G. Pierson-penning aan Prof. dr. C. Goedhart en aan Prof. dr. G. A. Kessler op 15 september 1978 in het gebouw van De Nederlandsche Bank te Amsterdam. De inleiding van de toespraak is enigszins verkort weergegeven.