The Life and Economic Thought of Harold Hotelling

Harold Hotelling was one of the most important of the twentieth-century pioneers of mathematical economics and mathematical statistics.1 In both fields he is recognised for his powerful theoretical contributions2 and he was a most effective and caring teacher. His influence, both as an economist and as a statistician, is felt not only through his publications (a large number of which are seminal3), but also through his students, amongst whom one can count many of the leading economists and statisticians of the next generation.4