E. K. Hunt

Emery Kay Hunt (born November 13, 1937), better known as E. K. Hunt or Kay Hunt, is an Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Utah.

Life and academic contribution
He was born in Blanding, Utah, the son of Emery Rulond Hunt (1914–1994) and Minerva Kartchner (b. 1917). He has one brother and four sisters. Hunt has two children, Jeff Hunt and Andrew Hunt. Andrew is a professor of history at the University of Waterloo.

E. K. Hunt received his bachelor's degree in 1961 and his Ph.D. in 1968 from the University of Utah. He has taught at five universities including the University of California, Riverside from 1969 to 1978, after which he joined the faculty at the University of Utah. As his career progressed, E. K. Hunt's writings gained recognition for their incisive critique of economics and economic theory. Notably, his collaboration with Ralph C. D'Arge led to the publication of "Environmental Pollution, Externalities, and Conventional Economic Wisdom: A Critique" in 1971. In this work, Hunt delved into the concept of externalities and contextualism, challenging orthodox economic perspectives on environmental issues.

Another significant publication was "Property and Prophets: The Evolution of Economic Institutions and Ideologies." Initially released in 1972, this seminal work, which has gone through multiple editions, including the seventh edition in 2003, provided a comprehensive analysis of the historical development of economic institutions and offered an alternative framework for understanding economic ideologies.

Together with Howard J. Sherman, E. K. Hunt authored "Economics: An Introduction to Traditional and Progressive Views." First published in 1972, this book presented contrasting perspectives on economic theory, incorporating progressive viewpoints often overlooked in mainstream economics.

From 1983 to 1989, he was chair of the University of Utah Department of Economics.

First name
Genealogical sources give Hunt's first name as "Emery." Amazon.com gives Hunt's first name as "Emerson" for the March 1986 paperback edition of Economics: An Introduction to Traditional and Radical Views (ISBN 978-0-06-350353-3).