Miller, Harry E.

Harry Edward Miller (1897-1937), professor of economics, was born in Boston on October 10, 1897. He graduated from Boston University in 1919 and earned his A.M. degree in 1920 and his Ph.D. in 1923, both from Harvard. He was assistant professor at Clark University for a year before coming to Brown as assistant professor of economics. He was named associate professor on the Eastman Foundation in 1928 and Eastman Professor of Political Economy in 1930. He taught courses in money and banking, public finance and economic theory, and published a book, Banking Theories in the United States before 1860, in 1927. He served on the Consumers Council of the National Emergency Council for Providence County during the Depression and was chairman of the special Rhode Island Commission on Liquor Legislation in 1931. Writing in Town and Gown, he stated his own views on prohibition, namely, that “It has contributed in an important degree to a better division of wealth. ... The burden of excessive drinking used to fall most heavily on the laborer and his family,” while admitting that “There are sound arguments against prohibition, but they are not economic.” In the spring of 1937 Miller took a leave of absence because of his health. He died shortly after an operation in Boston on November 14, 1937.