Bio

Ian Kumekawa is a Ph.D. candidate in the History Department. He obtained his MPhil at Cambridge in 2013 and his A.B. in 2012 at Harvard College. His forthcoming book, The First Serious Optimist examines the intellectual origins of welfare economics, focusing specifically on its founder, Cambridge economist A.C. Pigou (1877-1959). His dissertation will examine the implications of government planning during World War I for subsequent economic thought.