William Breit (1933–2011) was an American economist, mystery novelist, and professional comedian. Breit was born in New Orleans. He received his undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Texas and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1961. He was an Assistant and associate professor of economics at Louisiana State University (1961–1965) On the recommendation of Milton Friedman he was interviewed and hired at the University of Virginia where he was Associate Professor and Professor of Economics (1965–1983). He returned to his San Antonio as the E.M. Stevens Distinguished Professor of Economics at Trinity University in 1983 and retired as the Vernon F. Taylor Distinguished Professor Emeritus in 2002. He is considered an expert in the history of economic thought and anti-trust economics. He established the Nobel Laureate Lecture Series at Trinity University and is most notable as a mystery novelist (with Kenneth Elzinga) where their murder mysteries are solved by applying basic economic principles.
Books Readings in Microeconomics with Harold M. Hochman (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968). Readings in Microeconomics, with Harold M. Hochman, Second Revised Edition (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971). Cloth and paper editions. (Italian translation, 1971; Spanish translation, 1973.) The Academic Scribblers: American Economists in Collision with Roger L. Ransom (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971). Science and Ceremony: The Institutional Economics of C.E. Ayres with a foreword by John Kenneth Galbraith (Co-Editor and Contributor with W.P. Culbertson Jr.) (Austin: The University of Texas Press, 1976). The Antitrust Penalties: A Study in Law and Economics, with Kenneth G. Elzinga (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976.) [Selected as Book of the Month Alternate by McGraw-Hill Management Book Guild; awarded 1977 Phi Beta Kappa Book Prize.] Cited by Justice Burger in Texas Industries v Radcliff Materials, 451 U.S. 630, 636 (1981). Murder at the Margin by Marshall Jevons (joint pseudonym with Kenneth Elzinga) (Glen Ridge: Thomas Horton and Daughters, 1978). Paperback, 1979. The Academic Scribblers, Revised Edition, with Roger Ranson (Chicago: Dryden Press, 1982). The Antitrust Casebook: Milestones in Economic Regulation. with Kenneth Elzinga (Chicago: Dryden Press, 1982). The Fatal Equilibrium by Marshall Jevons (joint pseudonym with Kenneth Elzinga) (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1985) [Published in paperback edition by Ballantine Books, New York, 1986.] [Translated into Japanese and published by Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha Ltd., Tokyo, 1986.] [Translated into Korean and published by Book & World Publishers, Seoul, 2001.] [Translated into French and published by Economica of Paris] Antitrust Penalty Reform: An Economic Analysis, with Kenneth Elzinga (Washington: The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1986). Readings in Microeconomics, with Harold M. Hochman and Edward Saueracker, Third Edition (St. Louis: Times Mirror/Mosby College Publishing, 1986). Lives of the Laureates: Seven Nobel Economists, with co-editor Roger W. Spencer (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1986). [Translated into Portuguese and published by Forense-Universitaria, Rio de Janeiro, 1988.] [Translated into Japanese and published by Otas Kenkyujo, Tokyo, 1989.] The Antitrust Casebook, Second Revised Edition with Kenneth Elzinga (Chicago: Dryden Press, 1989). Lives of the Laureates: Ten Nobel Economists, Second Revised Edition with Roger Spencer (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1990). [Translated into Thai and published by Bhannakij Trading Ltd., Bangkok, 1991.] [Translated into Indonesian by PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 1992.] [Translated into Spanish and published by Editorial Celeste, Madrid, 1993.] [Translated into Italian and published by Il Sole 24 Ore Libri of Milan, 1992.] Murder at the Margin by Marshall Jevons (joint pseudonym with Kenneth Elzinga) (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993). Cloth and paperback editions, 1993. [A critical edition of the 1978 mystery novel reissued by Princeton University Press with a new “Foreword” by Herbert Stein and a new “Afterword” by Marshall Jevons.] [Translated into Spanish and published by Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1996.] [Translated into Korean and published by Book & World Publishers, Seoul 2001.] [Translated into French and published by Economica of Paris] Lives of the Laureates: Thirteen Nobel Economists, Third Revised Edition with Roger Spencer (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1995.) [Published in paperback edition by MIT Press, Cambridge, 1997.] [Translated into Chinese (complex character) and published by Commonwealth Publishing Company, Taipei, 1998.] [Translated into Chinese (simplified character) and published by the Hainan Publishing House, Hainan, forthcoming.] A Deadly Indifference by Marshall Jevons (joint pseudonym with Kenneth Elzinga) (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1995). [Published in paperback edition by Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1998.] [Translated into Korean and published by Book & World Publishers, Seoul, 2001.] [Translated into French and published by Economica of Paris] The Antitrust Casebook: Milestones in Economic Regulation, Third Edition with Kenneth Elzinga (Fort Worth: The Dryden Press, 1996). The Academic Scribblers, Third Edition with Roger Ransom, with a “Foreword” by Robert M. Solow and “Afterword” by the authors (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998). [Translated into Chinese (simplified) and published by Liang Jing Publishing Studio, Beijing] Lives of the Laureates: Eighteen Nobel Economists, with Barry T. Hirsch, 4th ed., Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2004. Lives of the Laureates: Twenty Three Nobel Economists, with Barry T. Hirsch, 5th ed., Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2009.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
