Reflections of a Pragmatic Economist: My Intellectual Journey

In Reflections of a Pragmatic Economist, Emery Castle traces an intellectual journey that spans more than half a century and has helped shape the fields of agricultural, rural and resource economics.

Castle’s memoir is grounded in the integration of his personal and professional experiences. He describes his roots as the son of Kansas tenant farmers, his service during World War II, his education, and his academic career, exploring the ways in which these experiences influenced his teaching, research, and administrative responsibilities.

An influential figure in the development of resource and environmental economics, Castle is also the pioneer of a rural economics based in the interdependence of the rural and urban. Castle’s memoir reflects the history of ideas in economics and agricultural economics. Drawing on ten years of leadership at Resources for the Future, a highly influential think tank on resource and environmental policy research, Castle gives special attention to contrasting elite and land-grant institutions.

In a lifetime spent studying people and places, Castle has helped expand the boundaries of applied economics in profound and eloquent ways. Reflections of a Pragmatic Economist recounts this unique journey.