Cannan, Edwin, 1861-1935, economist

Edwin Cannan, 1861-1935, was born in Funchal, Madeira, and educated at Clifton College and Balliol College, Oxford. Due to an illness which necessitated a long voyage he did not take an honours degree but took political economy as one of his subjects in the pass school. On the strength of his early writings he was invited to lecture on economics at the London School of Economics when it was founded in 1895. He became the effective head of the economics department although he was not created Professor of Political Economy by the University of London until 1907. He also held the position of Dean of the Faculty of Economics in the University of London from 1900 to 1904. He retired in 1926 and spent his time preparing his book A Review of Economic Theory (1929) which embodied the substance of his 60 lecture course on the principles of economics. Cannan was also interested in the practicality of economics. For many years he reviewed current government publications for the Economic Review and he served a term of office on the Oxford City Council. His large knowledge of local government history is shown in his publication History of Local Rates in England. He was also president of Section F of the British Association in 1902 and 1931 and president of the Royal Economic Society 1932 - 1934. The publications for which he is best known are his definitive version of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1904) and his edition of Smith's Glasgow lectures in jurisprudence (1896).