Philip Green Wright

Philip Green Wright (October 3, 1861 – September 4, 1934) was an American economist who in 1928 first proposed the use of instrumental variables estimation as the earliest known solution to the identification problem in econometrics. In a book review published in 1915 he wrote one of the first explanations of the identification problem. His primary topic of applied research was tariff policy, and he wrote several books on the topic. He also wrote poetry, was a mentor to the poet and author Carl Sandburg, and published some of Sandburg's earliest works. Wright was the father of geneticist Sewall Wright. Early life Wright was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1861 to John Seward Wright and Mary Clark Green Wright. His grandfather was Elizur Wright, an abolitionist and pioneer of life insurance regulation. Philip Wright grew up in Medford, Massachusetts, and in 1884 graduated from Tufts College with a bachelor of mechanic arts (AMB) degree. From 1884 to 1886 he taught mathematics at Buchtel College in Akron, Ohio, after which he attended Harvard University and graduated with a master of arts (AM) degree in economics in 1887. After graduating from Harvard, Wright worked as a civil engineer and a life insurance actuary. In 1889 he married Elizabeth Quincy Sewall of Saint Paul, Minnesota, who was Wright's first cousin. Elizabeth would be a local leader in the women's suffrage movement. The couple had three sons, geneticist Sewall Wright, political scientist Quincy Wright, and aeronautical engineer Theodore Paul Wright. Lombard College and Sandburg From 1892 to 1912, Wright was professor of mathematics, astronomy, and economics at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois. Lombard was a small Universalist college that would ultimately fold in 1930. During Wright's tenure, the typical enrollment was from 150 to 200 students with about 12 to 15 full-time faculty members. Wright's teaching load was heavy and covered a wide variety of subjects. In addition to teaching mathematics (through calculus), astronomy, and economics, he also taught classes in fiscal history, surveying, English composition, and literature and was director of the gymnasium. He owned a hand printing press, which he used to print college notices and bulletins from the basement of his home.