Inventory of the Arthur I. Bloomfield Papers, 1927-1995

The papers of university professor and economist Arthur Bloomfield span the period from 1927 to 1995. They consist chiefly of research files from his job as economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 1941-1958, professional and academic correspondence received or written from 1931 to 1995, research notes on various topics in international finance, notes for his university classes on the history of economic thought, and research files on the pre-1914 gold standard. The papers document Bloomfield's career as economist and professor of economics, with special emphasis on his work as economic consultant for the United States federal government, particularly for the New York Federal Reserve Bank, and for the governments of post-World War II South Korea and Indochina. His chief areas of research activity focused on international banking, evaluating foreign aid programs, the pre-1914 gold standard, and economic development in the U.K. and British Commonwealth countries (including the British West Indies), and economy and banking in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, the Congo, and Zaire. Substantial materials on the history of economic thought can be found in Bloomfield's teaching files. The collection is comprised of six series: Correspondence Series, Incoming and Outgoing; Federal Reserve Bank of New York Series; Pre-1914 Gold Standard Series; History of Economic Thought Series; Research Files Series; and Miscellaneous Series.

The Correspondence Series, Incoming and Outgoing, contains letters received or written by Bloomfield over the period 1931 to 1995. Arranged in folders chronologically, this substantive collection of letters lends insight into Bloomfield's professional and academic life.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Series contains material pertaining to Bloomfield's first career, spanning 17 years, as an economist at the New York Federal Reserve Bank. For that position he wrote a number of research memoranda and in-house articles on a wide range of international finance topics. Before World War II he wrote mostly on economic developments in the U.K. and British Commonwealth countries, but after the war his research memoranda involved a broader range of topics.

The Pre-1914 Gold Standard Series contains research notes for an intended book on the functioning of the international gold standard, 1880-1914. Bloomfield embarked on a year-long research trip to Europe in 1957 on a Rockefeller grant, visiting twelve European central banks, including the Bank of England where he spent over six months. In the end, he did not complete the book, but did write three substantial monographs from his notes: Monetary Policy under the International Gold Standard, 1880-1914 (Fed. Reserve Bank NY, 1959); Short-term Capital Movements under the Pre-1914 Gold Standard (Princeton Univ. Press, 1963); and Patterns of Fluctuation in International Investment before 1914 (Princeton Univ. Press, 1968). Although these books are not in the collection, this series contains one file folder for many countries or geographical areas, including: Switzerland, U.S.A., Sweden, Norway, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Egypt, France, Canada, U.K., Japan, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Russia, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, and Hungary.

The History of Economic Thought Series is an extensive collection of files on diverse topics in the history of economic thought. After 1974 Bloomfield's research became increasingly devoted to the history of economic thought, and he taught both graduate and undergraduate level classes on the subject at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Research Files Series contains research notes associated with various overseas assignments and trips. Over the period 1949-1984, Bloomfield made numerous trips to developing countries as a consultant, in some cases helping to establish the Central Bank (e.g. South Korea), or in other cases evaluating foreign aid programs to those areas (e.g. Indochina). In addition to notes made in preparation for, and during, these assignments, this series also contains notes for several articles (published and unpublished), speeches, and conferences.

The bulk of the Miscellaneous Series consists of papers from Bloomfield's undergraduate days at McGill University, including one paper written in 1937 for Frank Knight's ECO 305 class at the University of Chicago, titled Thorstein Veblen and his Analysis of Business Enterprise.

• Bloomfield, Arthur I.-(Arthur Irving).
• Economic history.
• Economists-Correspondence.
• Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
• Economic assistance, American-Indochina.
• United States. Army. Korea Civil Assistance Command.
• Economists-United States-Correspondence.
• Gold standard-History.
• International finance.
• Banks and banking-South Korea.
• Banks and banking-England.
• Banks and banking-West Indies.
• Banks and banking-Congo (Democratic Republic).

[Identification of item], Arthur I. Bloomfield Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

The papers of Arthur I. Bloomfield, economist and university professor, were received by the Special Collections Library as a gift from Professor Bloomfield in 1996. Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Professor Bloomfield.

Processed by Joanna Vinluan and Paula Jeannet Mangiafico

Completed November 29, 1999

Encoded by Paula Jeannet Mangiafico

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.