Jesse W. Markham
| Jesse William Markham | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 16, 1916 Sharps, Virginia |
| Died | June 21, 2009 (aged 93) Nashua, New Hampshire |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Richmond; Harvard University |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Harvard Business School; Princeton University |
| Doctoral advisor | Edward S. Mason |
| Doctoral students | Dennis Mueller |
Jesse William Markham (April 16, 1916 – June 21, 2009) was an American economist. Markham was best known for his work on antitrust policy, price theory and industrial organization. Markham was the Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School (HBS), and the former chief economist to the Federal Trade Commission.
Markham was born in Sharps, Virginia. Markham attended the University of Richmond, where he played baseball. In 1941, he earned an undergraduate degree in economics and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After graduating from Richmond, he began graduate school in economics that fall at Johns Hopkins University.
In 1942, Markham enlisted in World War II where he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for three years. Markham served in the Atlantic theater on the USS Augusta, which was the heavy cruiser acting as the flagship for the Normandy invasion, where he saw combat from the first attack on D-Day.
After the War, Markham began studies at Harvard University, and earned a master's degree in 1947 and a Ph.D. in 1949 in economics.
In 1948, Markham began his career as an associate professor at Vanderbilt University where he worked until 1952.
In 1953, the Federal Trade Commission selected Markham to be the FTC's chief economist. Markham recalled: "At a time when Congress had passed an act putting arbitrary constraints on corporate mergers, the Eisenhower administration saw me as a voice in favor of a standard of workable, as opposed to perfect, competition. I could advocate the benefits of letting certain firms work together to foster innovation, which buyers value just as much as temporary price advantages - the traditional yardstick of competitiveness." Markham left the FTC in 1955.
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