In Memoriam: Anna Jacobson Schwartz, 1915-2012

Anna J. Schwartz, a research economist who collaborated on many projects with Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, has died at her home in Manhattan. She was 96 years old.

A native of The Bronx, she graduate from Barnard College at the age of 18 and earned a master’s degree at Columbia University a year later. After working for five years at the Social Science Research Council at Columbia University, in 1941, Schwartz joined the National Bureau of Economic Research, an affiliation she maintained for more than 70 years. It was there that she met Milton Friendman. Their first book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, explaining the causes of the Great Depression, is considered a classic. She wrote or edited eight other books, two of which were with Dr. Friedman.

At age 48, Schwartz earned a Ph.D. in economics at Columbia University. She continued to be active well into her 90s and was a strong critic of the government bailouts during the 2007-08 recession and its aftermath.