Franco Modigliani: 1918-2003, in Memoriam

On September 25, 2003 the profession of economics and finance lost one of its prominent players. Born in Italy in 1918, Professor Franco Modigliani demonstrated his exceptional abilities when he enrolled in the University of Rome at the age of seventeen, two years ahead of the norm, and earned his Doctor Juris in 1939, by studying on his own. He was a research analyst at the Cowles Commission at the University of Chicago (1949-1952), and served as an advisor to numerous governmental bodies. Modigliani also served as president of the American Economic Association in 1976, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1985 for his achievements and contributions to the fields of economics and finance. Franco Modigliani is most known for the Keynesian Liquidity Preference (LP) theory. In fact, he started and ended his career with this now well-known concept.