Harberger's Record

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Although we differ about the suitability of Arnold Harberger as Director of the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), we do not question the sincerity of his opposition to the unconstitutional and repressive practices of the Pinochet regime, as expressed in a letter in the Wall Street Journal on December 10, 1976. This letter, responding to opposition to the award of a Nobel Prize to his colleague, Milton Friedman, stated:

Mr. Friedman and I are deeply disturbed by the breakdown of Chile's long tradition of democracy and freedom. We profoundly oppose authoritarian regimes, whether from the right or left. That is why we have consistently maintained a distance between ourselves and the government of Chile and have repeatedly condemned publicly and privately, its repressive measures.

Some of us differ with Harberger in our assessment of the appropriate means of demonstrating our opposition to the Pinochet regime, but there is no difference of principle between the position stated in Harberger's letter and our own. Professors Stephen K. Bailey, School of Education   Brian Berry, School of Design   Harvey Brooks, Kennedy School   James Duesenberry, Economics   Samuel Huntington, Government   Nathan Keyfitz, Sociology   Stephen Marglin, Economics   John Montgomery, Kennedy School   Richard Musgrave, Economics   Dwight Perkings, Economics   Thomas Schelling, Kennedy School   Peter Timmer, School of Public Health   Raymond Vernon, Business School   David Maybury-Lewis, Anthropology   HIID Institute Fellows   Clive Gray   Richard Mallon   Marguerite Robinson   Michael Roemer   Donald Warwick   Lester E. Gordon, Director of HIID   Glenn Jenkins, HIID Institute Associate   David Cole, HIID Rural Development Coordinator