ROBERT L. STEINER
1923-2013
Issues
Winter 2014
Robert L. Steiner, for many years a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council for Judaism, and a member of the organization for more than six decades, died on October 26, 2013 at the age of 90.
Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Bob graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College. During World War II, he was a member of the “Dartmouth Squadron” and flew 35 missions over Germany as Navigator and First Lieutenant on a B-17 bomber in the 8th Army Air Force. He was awarded the Air Medal and five clusters.
After receiving his MA in Economics from Columbia University in 1948, Bob joined various family-owned manufacturing businesses in Cincinnati, the most successful of which was Kenner Products Co., the toy manufacturer, of which he became president. He was an early pioneer in television advertising for children’s toys, starting with Girdle and Panel Building Sets and later the Easy Bake Oven.
Bob’s business experience was the impetus for developing a “dual stage” theory of economics, in which manufacturers and retailers competed both horizontally and vertically and the margins of the two stages were often inversely related. After a lecture at Harvard Business School, Bob was appointed Senior Staff Economist at the Federal Trade Commission in 1978.
The author of more than 40 articles in scholarly journals, his books include Visions of Cable Vision. His last article, “Management, Market and Antitrust,” was published in the Antitrust Journal late in 2013, shortly after his death. He was a regular speaker at economic symposia, most recently in the summer of 2012 at Oxford University at the age of 89.
Bob was an avid fly fisherman, tennis and squash player, enjoying all three sports into his 90th year. He was committed to Classical Reform Judaism and regretted the many changes in recent years as the movement embraced nationalism and declared that Israel, not God, was “central” to Judaism. Bob believed in a religion of universal values, and lamented the growing confusion of religion and politics. He was an American patriot who took pride in his service to his country during World War II. His contributions to the work of the American Council for Judaism were notable.
We extend our condolences to his wife Christine, his four children and four grandchildren. He will be missed by all who knew him, and particularly by those in the American Council for Judaism who valued his leadership, wise counsel, and friendship so dearly.
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