Finance & economics | Heterodox thought

Revisiting the work of Donald Harris, father of Kamala

The combative Marxist economist focused on questions related to growth

Donald Harris holds his baby daughter Kamala, April 1965
America’s Ralph Miliband?Photograph: Avalon

In a video clip that has gone viral recently, Kamala Harris quotes her mother asking her whether she thought she had just fallen out of a coconut tree. The probable Democratic nominee for president breaks into a laugh at the turn of phrase before explaining, somewhat philosophically, the message of the story: “you exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” For Ms Harris some of that context is esoteric economic theory. Her father, Donald, is an 85-year-old, Jamaican-born economist, formerly a professor at Stanford University.

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The other Donald”

From the July 27th 2024 edition

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