As ever, I am in the debt of the friends and associates who make my books possible and the writing of them—and, one hopes, the reading—endurable. I have especially in mind colleagues and friends at Harvard and indeed also, as it is known on this side of the Atlantic, the other Cambridge. With them over the months and years I have discussed and sometimes, without doubt, appropriated ideas that are here offered or elaborated.
More specifically, my son James Galbraith, professor of economics at the University of Texas, helped me, and notably, on matters of factual detail. Nan Bers typed and retyped the manuscript with good humor and, considering my handwriting, surprising accuracy; as I’ve often told, the note of spontaneity that my critics say they admire so much appears only in the fifth draft. Edith Tucker, a friend of many years, checked for factual errors, although any that remain are surely mine. Sue Carlson ably held off phone calls and intruders in the last days before press and publication.
To no one, however, am I so indebted, and as so often before, as to my editor and partner in both management and composition, Andrea Williams. Without her efforts, which some, to be sure, will regret, there would have been no book. To her my great and enduring thanks.
Finally, needless to say, the requisite room in my life for this writing has been made by Catherine Atwater Galbraith, from whom also has come unfailing support over long days, weeks and months. To her, not for the first time, I dedicate a book.
JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH
Cambridge, Massachusetts