In Robert Loring Allen's biography of Irving Fisher, he writes (p. 161), "Will Eliot's [Fisher's lifetime friend] daughter, Clara, came to visit the Fishers in 1919 and Irving and Margie Fisher welcomed her as a member of the family. She lived with them for several years while taking her Ph.D. in economics at Yale under Irving Fisher."

Since Clara Fisher's Ph.D. was from Columbia University, not Yale, I have to assume that the above statement is wrong. In the published version of her thesis, "The Farmer's Campaign for Credit", she thanks H. Parker Willis, "His inspiration and assistance have been invaluable throughout the entire investigation," and does not mention Fisher. Fisher's view of Willis was expressed to Franklin Roosevelt in his evaluation of possible candidates (ranked in order from 1 to 79!) for the reorganized Federal Reserve Board in 1936. Fisher put Willis in the bottom "To be avoided" category with the comment, "A technician but not a sound thinker."

Albert Himoe