Abram Bergson, 89; Analyst Studied Soviet Economy in Cold War

Abram Bergson, 89, a Harvard economist and government consultant whose research helped shed light on the obscure workings of the Soviet economy, died April 23.

He wrote an article while still an undergraduate that would become the basis for an important function for measuring social welfare.

Bergson became a leader in the study of the Soviet economy, using the scant data available in the West during the Cold War to help lay the foundation for theoretical understanding of that system and for calculating income and production.

World War II took Bergson to the Office of Strategic Services, precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, where he would rise to become chief of the Russian economic subdivision.

Moving to Harvard in 1956 to work at the university’s Russian Research Center, Bergson was also a consultant to federal agencies and in the mid-1970s became chairman of the Science Advisory Board to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.