Howard S. Ellis; Pioneered Field of Monetary Theory

Howard Sylvester Ellis, internationally known economist who pioneered the field of monetary theory, has died. He was 93.

Ellis, who taught economics at UC Berkeley from 1938-67, died Wednesday in Capitola, Calif.

During his long career, Ellis served as adviser to the Federal Reserve System, the U.S. Treasury and the World Bank.

He wrote 20 books, including “Economics of Freedom,” an explanation of the Marshall Plan for reconstructing Europe after World War II. President Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote the introduction to the book, published in 1950.

An authority on the economic development of Latin America as well as the redevelopment of Europe, Ellis wrote “Survey of Contemporary Economics” about the postwar world economy. The book had 12 printings.

During his tenure at UC Berkeley, Ellis served terms as president of the American Economic Assn. and the International Economic Assn.

Born in Denver, Ellis earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa. As a graduate student at Harvard University, he won the Ricardo Prize for good writing. Harvard Press published his dissertation as the best treatise in three years on history, government and economics.

Ellis taught at the University of Michigan from 1924 to 1938, when he moved to Berkeley as Flood Professor of Economics.