Economist John Kenneth Galbraith dies

WASHINGTON, Apr 30 (Reuters) John Kenneth Galbraith, an influential liberal economist and author of ''The Affluent Society,'' has died at age 97, The New York Times reported today.

The Canadian-born Galbraith, a professor at Harvard University, yesterday died at a hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the paper said.

Galbraith's most famous work, 1958's ''The Affluent Society,'' became a bestseller. In the book, he argued that the United States had become rich in consumer goods but poor in social services.

Galbraith tutored Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic nominee for president in 1952 and 1956, on economics. He also advised President John F. Kennedy and served as his ambassador to India.

Though he eventually broke with President Lyndon Johnson over the war in Vietnam, he helped conceive of Johnson's Great Society programme and wrote a major presidential address that outlined its purposes, the Times said.

At his death Galbraith was an emeritus professor of economics at Harvard, where he had taught for most of his career.

Reuters SI DB1159