Martin Feldstein
Encyclopedia
Martin Stuart "Marty" Feldstein (born November 25, 1939) is an economist
. He is currently the George F. Baker Professor
of Economics at Harvard University
, and the president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research
(NBER). He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the NBER from 1978 through 2008. From 1982 to 1984, Feldstein served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
and as chief economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan
(where his deficit hawk
views clashed with Reagan administration economic policies). He has also been a member of the Washington-based financial advisory body the Group of Thirty
since 2003.
and graduated from South Side High School
in Rockville Centre, New York
. He completed his undergraduate education at Harvard University
(B.A.
, Summa Cum Laude, 1961) and then attended University of Oxford
(B.Litt., 1963; D.Phil., 1967). He was also a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford
from 1964 to 1967.
of the American Economic Association
, a prize awarded every two years to the economist under the age of 40 who is judged to have made the greatest contribution to economic science. He is among the 10 most influential economists in the world according to IDEAS/RePEc
. He is the author of more than 300 research articles in economics
and is known primarily for his work on macroeconomics
and public finance
. He has pioneered much of the research on the working mechanism and sustainability of public pension
systems. Feldstein is an avid advocate of Social Security reform
and has been a main driving force behind former President George W. Bush's initiative of partial privatization of the Social Security
system. Aside from his contributions to the field of public sector economics, he has also authored other important macroeconomics papers. One of his more well-known papers in this field was his influential investigation with Charles Horioka
of investment behavior in various countries. He and Horioka found that in the long run, capital tends to stay in its home country – that is to say, a nation's savings is used to fund its investment opportunities. This has since been known as the “Feldstein-Horioka puzzle
”.
In 1997, writing about the upcoming European monetary union and the euro, Feldstein warned that the "adverse economic effects of a single currency on unemployment and inflation would outweigh any gains from facilitating trade and capital flows" and that, while "conceived of as a way of reducing the risk of another intra-European war", it was "more likely to have the opposite effect" and "lead to increased conflicts within Europe and between Europe and the United States".
In 2005, Feldstein was widely considered a leading candidate to succeed chairman Alan Greenspan
as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. This was in part due to his prominence in the Reagan administration and his position as an economic advisor for the Bush presidential campaign. The New York Times wrote an editorial advocating that Bush choose either Feldstein or Ben Bernanke
due to their credentials, and the week of the nomination The Economist
predicted that the two men had the greatest probability of selection out of the field of candidates. Ultimately, the position went to Bernanke, possibly because Feldstein was a board member of AIG
, which announced the same year that it would restate five years of past financial reports by $2.7 billion. Subsequently, as a result of risky bets made by its Financial Products Division, AIG suffered a massive financial collapse that played a central role in the worldwide economic crisis of 2007–08 and the ensuing global recession. The firm was rescued only by multiple capital infusions by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, which extended a $182.5 billion line of credit. Although Feldstein was not explicitly linked to the accounting practices in question, he had served as a Director of AIG since 1988. In March 2007, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation announced that one of four 2007 Bradley Prizes to honor outstanding achievement would be awarded to Feldstein. On September 10, 2007, Feldstein announced that he would be stepping down as president of NBER effective June 2008.
Feldstein served as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 2007 to 2009.
Feldstein said in March 2008 he believed the United States
was in a recession
and it could be a severe one.
As a member of the board of AIG Financial Products, Feldstein was one of those who had oversight of the division of the international insurer that contributed to the company's crisis in September, 2008. He now serves as a board member for Eli Lilly and Company
. He previously served on the boards of several other public companies including JPMorgan and TRW.
On February 6, 2009, Feldstein was announced as one of U.S. President Obama's advisors on the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board
.
On May 27, Feldstein announced he will step down as a director of AIG.
He currently serves on the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Group of 30 and the National Committee on United States-China Relations
.
Martin Feldstein is a member of the Bilderberg Group
and a regular participant in their meetings. He is also a member of the Trilateral Commission
.
He is a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and has been listed as one of the most likely to win for several years.
. Ec 10 was routinely the largest class at Harvard, and remains one of the largest, recently being eclipsed (in 2007) by Michael Sandel's
"Justice" (Moral Reasoning 22). He currently teaches courses in American economic policy and public sector economics at Harvard College.
Ultimately, Feldstein may have made one of his greatest impacts through the remarkable concentration of his students in top echelons of government and academia. These include: Larry Summers
, former Harvard president and US Treasury secretary; David Ellwood, dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government; and James Poterba
, MIT professor and member of Bush's tax reform advisory panel. Lawrence Lindsey, formerly Bush's top economic adviser, wrote his doctoral thesis under Feldstein, as did Harvey S. Rosen
, the previous chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, José Piñera
, Chile's Secretary of Labor and Social Security during its pension privatization in 1980-1981 and Glenn Hubbard
, Bush's first chairman of the council and now dean of the Columbia Business School.
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. He is currently the George F. Baker Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Economics at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and the president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research
National Bureau of Economic Research
The National Bureau of Economic Research is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community." The NBER is well known for providing start and end...
(NBER). He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the NBER from 1978 through 2008. From 1982 to 1984, Feldstein served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
Council of Economic Advisers
The Council of Economic Advisers is an agency within the Executive Office of the President that advises the President of the United States on economic policy...
and as chief economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
(where his deficit hawk
Deficit hawk
Deficit hawk is an American political slang term for people who place great emphasis on keeping the federal budget under control. Deficit hawks believe the best way to reduce the deficit, pay off national debt, and balance the budget is by a combination of increasing taxes and cutting government...
views clashed with Reagan administration economic policies). He has also been a member of the Washington-based financial advisory body the Group of Thirty
Group of Thirty
The Group of Thirty, often abbreviated to G30, is an international body of leading financiers and academics which aims to deepen understanding of economic and financial issues and to examine consequences of decisions made in the public and private sectors related to these issues...
since 2003.
Early life
Feldstein was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and graduated from South Side High School
South Side High School (Rockville Centre, New York)
South Side High School is the only public high school in the town of Rockville Centre, New York. South Side serves grades 9 through 12 and boasts a variety of academic, extra-curricular and athletic programs, including the International Baccalaureate Curriculum in junior and senior years. School...
in Rockville Centre, New York
Rockville Centre, New York
Rockville Centre is a village located in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 24,023. The town is made up of middle to upper middle class residents, most of the wealthier residents residing on the north side of town near the...
. He completed his undergraduate education at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
, Summa Cum Laude, 1961) and then attended University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
(B.Litt., 1963; D.Phil., 1967). He was also a Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is an all-graduate college and primarily a research establishment, specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. It is a research centre in the social sciences...
from 1964 to 1967.
Career
In 1977, he received the John Bates Clark MedalJohn Bates Clark Medal
The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to "that American economist under the age of forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge"...
of the American Economic Association
American Economic Association
The American Economic Association, or AEA, is a learned society in the field of economics, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It publishes one of the most prestigious academic journals in economics: the American Economic Review...
, a prize awarded every two years to the economist under the age of 40 who is judged to have made the greatest contribution to economic science. He is among the 10 most influential economists in the world according to IDEAS/RePEc
Řepeč
Řepeč is a village and municipality in Tábor District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 267 ....
. He is the author of more than 300 research articles in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and is known primarily for his work on macroeconomics
Macroeconomics
Macroeconomics is a branch of economics dealing with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of the whole economy. This includes a national, regional, or global economy...
and public finance
Public finance
Public finance is the revenue and expenditure of public authoritiesThe purview of public finance is considered to be threefold: governmental effects on efficient allocation of resources, distribution of income, and macroeconomic stabilization.-Overview:The proper role of government provides a...
. He has pioneered much of the research on the working mechanism and sustainability of public pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
systems. Feldstein is an avid advocate of Social Security reform
Social Security debate (United States)
This article concerns proposals to change the Social Security system in the United States. Social Security is a social insurance program officially called "Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance" , in reference to its three components. It is primarily funded through a dedicated payroll tax...
and has been a main driving force behind former President George W. Bush's initiative of partial privatization of the Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
system. Aside from his contributions to the field of public sector economics, he has also authored other important macroeconomics papers. One of his more well-known papers in this field was his influential investigation with Charles Horioka
Charles Horioka
Charles Yuji Horioka is an American economist residing in Japan. Horioka received his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University and is currently professor of economics at the Institute of Social and Economic Research at Osaka University...
of investment behavior in various countries. He and Horioka found that in the long run, capital tends to stay in its home country – that is to say, a nation's savings is used to fund its investment opportunities. This has since been known as the “Feldstein-Horioka puzzle
Feldstein-Horioka puzzle
The Feldstein-Horioka puzzle is a widely-discussed problem in macroeconomics and international finance, first documented by Martin Feldstein and Charles Horioka in an 1980 paper. According to economic theory, if we assume that investors that are able to easily invest anywhere in the world, they ...
”.
In 1997, writing about the upcoming European monetary union and the euro, Feldstein warned that the "adverse economic effects of a single currency on unemployment and inflation would outweigh any gains from facilitating trade and capital flows" and that, while "conceived of as a way of reducing the risk of another intra-European war", it was "more likely to have the opposite effect" and "lead to increased conflicts within Europe and between Europe and the United States".
In 2005, Feldstein was widely considered a leading candidate to succeed chairman Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC...
as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. This was in part due to his prominence in the Reagan administration and his position as an economic advisor for the Bush presidential campaign. The New York Times wrote an editorial advocating that Bush choose either Feldstein or Ben Bernanke
Ben Bernanke
Ben Shalom Bernanke is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis....
due to their credentials, and the week of the nomination The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
predicted that the two men had the greatest probability of selection out of the field of candidates. Ultimately, the position went to Bernanke, possibly because Feldstein was a board member of AIG
American International Group
American International Group, Inc. or AIG is an American multinational insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters is located in the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters office is on Fenchurch Street in London, continental Europe operations are based in...
, which announced the same year that it would restate five years of past financial reports by $2.7 billion. Subsequently, as a result of risky bets made by its Financial Products Division, AIG suffered a massive financial collapse that played a central role in the worldwide economic crisis of 2007–08 and the ensuing global recession. The firm was rescued only by multiple capital infusions by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, which extended a $182.5 billion line of credit. Although Feldstein was not explicitly linked to the accounting practices in question, he had served as a Director of AIG since 1988. In March 2007, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation announced that one of four 2007 Bradley Prizes to honor outstanding achievement would be awarded to Feldstein. On September 10, 2007, Feldstein announced that he would be stepping down as president of NBER effective June 2008.
Feldstein served as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 2007 to 2009.
Feldstein said in March 2008 he believed the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
was in a recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
and it could be a severe one.
As a member of the board of AIG Financial Products, Feldstein was one of those who had oversight of the division of the international insurer that contributed to the company's crisis in September, 2008. He now serves as a board member for Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...
. He previously served on the boards of several other public companies including JPMorgan and TRW.
On February 6, 2009, Feldstein was announced as one of U.S. President Obama's advisors on the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board
President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board
The President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, originally the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, is a panel of non-governmental experts from business, labor, academia and elsewhere that President of the United States Barack Obama created on February 6, 2009. The board reports...
.
On May 27, Feldstein announced he will step down as a director of AIG.
He currently serves on the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Group of 30 and the National Committee on United States-China Relations
National Committee on United States-China Relations
The National Committee on United States China Relations is a nonprofit organization that encourages understanding and cooperation between the United States and Greater China in the belief that sound and productive Sino-American relations serve vital American and world interests.-Mission:For more...
.
Martin Feldstein is a member of the Bilderberg Group
Bilderberg Group
The Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, or Bilderberg Club is an annual, unofficial, invitation-only conference of approximately 120 to 140 guests from North America and Western Europe, most of whom are people of influence. About one-third are from government and politics, and two-thirds from...
and a regular participant in their meetings. He is also a member of the Trilateral Commission
Trilateral Commission
The Trilateral Commission is a non-governmental, non-partisan discussion group founded by David Rockefeller in July 1973 to foster closer cooperation among the United States, Europe and Japan.-History:...
.
He is a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and has been listed as one of the most likely to win for several years.
Teaching
A well-known figure on the Harvard campus, Feldstein taught the introductory economics class "Social Analysis 10: Principles of Economics" (commonly referred to as "Ec 10" by Harvard students) for twenty years, being succeeded by N. Gregory MankiwN. Gregory Mankiw
Nicholas Gregory "Greg" Mankiw is an American macroeconomist and Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Mankiw is known in academia for his work on New Keynesian economics....
. Ec 10 was routinely the largest class at Harvard, and remains one of the largest, recently being eclipsed (in 2007) by Michael Sandel's
Michael Sandel
Michael J. Sandel is an American political philosopher and a professor at Harvard University. He is best known for the Harvard course 'Justice' which is available to , and for his critique of Rawls' A Theory of Justice in his Liberalism and the Limits of Justice...
"Justice" (Moral Reasoning 22). He currently teaches courses in American economic policy and public sector economics at Harvard College.
Ultimately, Feldstein may have made one of his greatest impacts through the remarkable concentration of his students in top echelons of government and academia. These include: Larry Summers
Lawrence Summers
Lawrence Henry Summers is an American economist. He served as the 71st United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was Director of the White House United States National Economic Council for President Barack Obama until November 2010.Summers is the...
, former Harvard president and US Treasury secretary; David Ellwood, dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government; and James Poterba
James M. Poterba
James Michael "Jim" Poterba is an American economist, Mitsui Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and current NBER president and chief executive officer.- Early years :...
, MIT professor and member of Bush's tax reform advisory panel. Lawrence Lindsey, formerly Bush's top economic adviser, wrote his doctoral thesis under Feldstein, as did Harvey S. Rosen
Harvey S. Rosen
Harvey S. Rosen is the John L. Weinberg Professor of Economics and Business Policy at Princeton University. His research focuses on public finance. He attended the University of Michigan for his undergraduate studies and Harvard University for graduate studies...
, the previous chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, José Piñera
José Piñera
José Piñera is the architect of Chile's private pension system based on personal retirement accounts. Piñera has been called "the world's foremost advocate of privatizing public pension systems" as well as "the Pension Reform Pied Piper"...
, Chile's Secretary of Labor and Social Security during its pension privatization in 1980-1981 and Glenn Hubbard
Glenn Hubbard (economics)
R. Glenn Hubbard is an American economist. He is Dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, where he is also Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics. Hubbard was Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S...
, Bush's first chairman of the council and now dean of the Columbia Business School.
External links
- Faculty profile at Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
- Profile at the National Bureau of Economic ResearchNational Bureau of Economic ResearchThe National Bureau of Economic Research is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community." The NBER is well known for providing start and end...
- Profile and Papers at Research Papers in EconomicsResearch Papers in EconomicsResearch Papers in Economics is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 57 countries to enhance the dissemination of research in economics. The heart of the project is a decentralized database of working papers, preprints, journal articles and software components. The project started...
/RePEc - Column archive at Project SyndicateProject SyndicateProject Syndicate is an international not-for-profit newspaper syndicate and association of newspapers. It distributes commentaries and analysis by experts, activists, Nobel laureates, statesmen, economists, political thinkers, business leaders and academics to its member publications, and...
- Feldstein Says U.S. Dollar Needs to Depreciate, Jan Zilinsky, The Harvard CrimsonThe Harvard CrimsonThe Harvard Crimson, the daily student newspaper of Harvard University, was founded in 1873. It is the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates...
, January 12, 2007 - Ahorro e Inversión en el Largo Plazo