TRIBUTES TO ECONOMIST HARVEY J. LEVIN ON HIS 80^th BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY (JULY 1, 2004)
 

Participating in People to People Citizen Ambassadorship Program in Soviet Union, June 25, 1991

"Levin concluded that market-like mechanisms, rather than administrative hearings, would better allocate the increasingly crowded electromagnetic spectrum, or airwaves, to their myriad uses...  In the world of economists, his ideas were not radical, but in the world that would need to use them, they were...  Levin’s research paved the way for a change of heart at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission [in auctioning] portions of the spectrum."

"He was truly several decades ahead of his time...  I constantly refer people back to his book [The Invisible Resource]... the classic overview of spectrum technology, economics, and public policy... and his articles in the American Economic Review.  In some areas, people still haven't caught up to [him].  For example, I have yet to find anybody else provide a more thoughtful spectrum leasing analysis -- a very timely topic here in DC...  The Explanation to the Citizen's Guide to the Airwaves... that cites [him]... has recently been distributed to Capitol Hill and the relevant think tank community."

"He was a delightful man… universally well thought of.  Indeed... the FCC sponsored a conference on spectrum called ‘The Invisible Resource.’  Harvey was a featured speaker…  It was the 30th of April, 1991 – one year to the day he died…  He had truly been one of the pioneers in broadcast regulation, and we both liked to think that I was following in his footsteps."

"He was a notable scholar… in ways that were an example for all of us: his commitment and all of the other things that went with it, his constant peregrinations in search of bringing his message to people all over this country and the rest of the world…  With all his ways and his accomplishments, Harvey, above all, was a true original, and he was an original in a time that breeds all too many hollow men, if not stuffed men."

"Euripides said, ‘When good men die, their goodness does not perish but lives though they are gone.’  This was true of Harvey…  His scholarship was recognized throughout the profession, and his books will long be sought in the libraries throughout the world for his espousal of open communication for the weak as well as the strong."

"If there was one thread that ran through his entire professional life, it was the importance of people throughout the world having their voices heard, and being able to hear the voices of others -- culturally, intellectually and politically.  He consistently demonstrated a sense of priority and commitment in working for the advancement of those less fortunate than himself.  In his professional, civic and personal life, he strived to improve the rights, opportunities, facilities and technologies of disadvantaged minority groups and the poor, in America as well as in his own backyard, and in third world countries.  With zeal, optimism, humor and irony, he proposed innovative policies regarding orbit spectrum assignments and broadcast frequency auctions to skeptical and dismissing industry officials.  In the face of industry and government laissez faire, he remained the true believer.  His proposals were vindicated four years after his death with the passage of the U.S. Telecommunications Act -- a ‘promised land’ he'd seen but didn't live to experience.  Given recent battles over media diversity versus consolidation, including the FCC's attempt to pervert the Telecommunications Act by allowing a monopoly of the airwaves, his visionary research suggesting its equitable diversification is especially timely."

In Colorado for his presentation at the national conference of
 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 
in Boulder, March 1969

Harvey J. Levin Communications Economics
www.harveyjlevin.com