Geoffrey Browne
Geoffrey Browne (died 17 February 1978) was the first director of the Economist Intelligence Unit. He was appointed director of the company by the then editor of The Economist, Geoffrey Crowther, in 1947, and was appointed managing-director when the company was reconstituted as a wholly owned subsidiary of The Economist. [1] He retired as chairman and managing director in January 1971, and was replaced by Ian Trafford. [2]
According to his Times obituary: 'Brown saw the aims of the EIU as finding for its clients larger markets, outlets for new products, opportunities for diversification, and development possibilities in the Third World.' [3] A correspondent subsequently wrote to The Times stating:
Geoffrey Browne, who died on February 17, was not simply the founder and builder of the Economist Intelligence Unit, but he was also the man who first succeeded in selling market and economic research in Europe and in the developing world to American business. ... He was instrumental too in persuading the World Bank to consider economic consultants on a par with engineering consultants, and in so doing helped to cause a considerable and permanent change in the way in which the Bank examines major investment projects in the developing world. [4]
