Bean, Louis H. (Louis Hyman), 1896-1994

Economist.

Louis Hyman Bean (1896-1994) was born in Russia (Courland). His father came to the United States in 1905, eventually settling in Laconia, New Hampshire. Bean followed with his mother and siblings in 1906. After attending elementary and high schools in Laconia, Louis Bean entered the University of Rochester in 1915. He enlisted in the Army in 1918, received a commission as a lieutenant and served in the infantry without going overseas until his discharge in 1919. He received his A.B. from Rochester the same year. Bean''s work as an Assistant Labor Manager induced him to enter the Harvard Business School from which he received his M.B.A. in 1922. In 1923 Bean joined the research staff of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he worked on estimates of farm income, price indices, commodity price analysis, served as secretary of the committee preparing the department''s monthly price reports and began his career long study of interrelationships between agriculture and industry. Charts prepared by Bean were first used in Congress while the McNary Haugen Act was under discussion. In 1933 Secretary Wallace, whom Bean had met during the course of his work in the 1920''s, appointed Bean Economic Adviser to the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. Bean also became head of the office of Agricultural and Industrial Relations in the Office of the Secretary in 1934. Bean has described himself as being a member of a group to whom Wallace could turn for objective information uninfluenced by politics. Bean''s work for Wallace included supplying information needed for press conferences, public discussions, speeches, cabinet meetings and congressional hearings. Bean also worked on several of Wallace''s books. He continued to furnish information to Wallace until Wallace''s departure from government in 1946. In addition to his work for the Department of Agriculture where, he has said, he was allowed to work on anything that interested him, Bean was also connected with the National Resources Planning Board and testified at hearings on the NRA. Bean also began his work on election trends and forecasts during the 1930''s. His first book on this subject, Ballot Behavior, first appeared in 1936 and was revised in 1940. Bean was Counsellor, Office of Agricultural Economics from 1939 to 1941. In 1942 Bean became an Assistant Director of the short lived Board of Economic Warfare where he was involved with postwar planning and the BEW British Empire Division. In 1943 he became Chief Fiscal Analyst, Fiscal Division, Bureau of the Budget where he worked on postwar economic problems, including full employment, the absorptive capacity of Palestine and other matters. Bean''s statistical study prepared for Senator James Murray''s committee drew him into the controversy over steel capacity and its effect on the economy. Bean began supplying information to the Council of Economic Advisers in 1946. In 1947 Bean rejoined the staff of the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture as Economic Adviser. With the advent of the Eisenhower administration Bean returned briefly to the Bureau of Agricultural Economics until his retirement from government, June 30, 1953.

Government official.

Bean joined government service in 1923, serving with the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, the Board of Economic Warfare, and the Bureau of the Budget.