Latest news with #StanleyFischer
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Remembering Stanley Fischer: An economist for all
When news came about Stanley Fischer having passed away, I got emotional. I am penning these lines in the hope that people will learn about this unique human being. He was a three-dimensional Donald Bradman, a pinnacle reached by very few — indeed I don't know of any other. First, he was every (wo)man's economist. It is impossible for a student of macroeconomics to not have heard of him, and learnt from him. His Macroeconomics with Rudi Dornbusch is the go-to textbook if you want to understand macroeconomics. His students included our own Isher Ahluwalia (his second PhD supervision), a pre-eminent Indian macroeconomist and institution builder. Other formal PhD students have included Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the US Fed, Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank, and Kazuo Ueda, present governor of the Bank of Japan. If that is not a lifetime's achievement award by itself, consider that among his students were Lawrence H Summers, former secretary of the US Treasury and president of Harvard University, and two chairpersons of the US Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Romer and Greg Mankiw. In a fundamental way, all policy economists were his students. In several seminars/discussions where I had the good fortune to be in the same room as Stan, it was obvious that we were all in awe of him. When he spoke, people listened. Because the quality of his insight commanded attention. His second mega-dimension achievement was in policy. He started on this path in 1988 when he was named chief economist at the World Bank. He left in 1990 for MIT, only to forever return to dominate and influence policy-making from 1994 onwards. I did not have the good fortune of being Stan's student or colleague. Then why am I emotional at his departure? Because of his third, and most important dimension, his humaneness. The dictionary defines humaneness as being about kindness, compassion, and consideration for others. Any story about Stan, and especially my story, is heavily one-sided. I cannot speak for others, but this is likely to be the case with them as well. It is about how he helped those in need, guided us and mentored us, without possibly recognising that he was having this influence. Two episodes from my interactions with him show this. I wasn't even an academic (just a proprietary currency trader at Goldman Sachs) when in 1993 he invited me to give a talk to his class at MIT. The policy topic: Do democratic societies grow at a faster rate than non-democratic countries? At that time, China had been growing at above 10 per cent per annum since the Great Economic Leap of 1978 and many assumed that dictatorship was the way to go. But not Stan, and not me — hence the unusual invitation to a non-academic for a seminar. Another example: My draft of a book on currency misalignments achieved a stop-the-press status in 2010 at a leading think tank, the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). I was an ordinary author — Stan was Stan. His response to my email requesting his help was short (as were all his emails) and accurate. 'This must have fallen prey to some issues relating to countries that intervene in their FX markets — and must therefore be all the harder to accept. I can understand your frustration… Best — and we should talk at some point.' It was only because of Stan's intervention and guidance (to PIIE and me) that allowed the book, Devaluing to Prosperity, to be finally published in 2012. Prakash Loungani documents in erudite detail Stan's conversion to policy (IMF Finance and Development, September 2013, 'A Class Act'). Stan found it hard adjusting to academic life at MIT from 1990-1993. 'I remember going to theory seminars and saying to myself, what difference does it make whether this guy is right or wrong?' Even becoming chairman of the Economics department at MIT 'was only partly inspiring,' says Fischer, likening the role to Alfred Kahn's description of a dean's role: 'The dean is to the faculty as the fire hydrant is to the dog.' Another of his attributes — his wicked, but polite, sense of humour. On policy influence — and paraphrasing Jane Austen — it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a country in economic trouble, wanted Stan Fischer to help steer it right. Stan, as first deputy managing editor at the IMF was in charge and helped resolve the East Asian currency crisis. He was governor at the Bank of Israel, 2005-13, and helped Israel both reform and most effectively face the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. He cut policy rates a week before even the Fed did. He was born in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. That explains his special connection with issues of development, growth and poverty reduction. It also explains part of my bond with him — he followed cricket. He was a unique multi-dimensional Bradman — there won't be another. The writer is chairperson of the Technical Expert Group for the first official Household Income Survey for India
Axios
2 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Stanley Fischer, economic and central banking titan, dies at 81
Stanley Fischer's resume as a top policymaker was remarkable. But it was his intellectual leadership and mentorship that made him a unique force in the last four decades of global economic policy. The big picture: Fischer, a titan of economics and central banking who died this weekend at age 81, mentored generations of top economists and policymakers in his decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He trained them on a school of economic thought that was intellectually rigorous — but hardly confined to abstract theory. Fischer's approach offered practical answers for policymakers navigating a recession or crisis. His mentees included eventual Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, current Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda — just the start of a who's who list of modern economic policy. Fischer served in major leadership roles himself. He was the No. 2 official at the International Monetary Fund (1994-2001) and the Federal Reserve (2014-2017), as well as governor of the Bank of Israel (2005-2013). Flashback: Fischer guided the IMF through the East Asian crises of the late 1990s, seeking to balance rescues of indebted nations with demands that they reform their domestic economies as a condition of aid. While those reforms' results were painful at the time, affected countries — including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea — boomed in the ensuing decade. As head of Israel's central bank, he guided the nation through the Global Financial Crisis, which it weathered better than most countries.
Wall Street Journal
3 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Stanley Fischer, Groundbreaking Economist and Fed Vice Chair, Dies at 81
Stanley Fischer, one of the most influential economists of recent decades, has died. He was 81. His death was confirmed by the Bank of Israel, where he served as governor from 2005 to 2013. Fischer served as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017. He left his biggest mark in prior decades, as professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, second in command at the International Monetary Fund, and at the Bank of Israel.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Influential economist Stanley Fischer dies
Stanley Fischer, a former top policymaker at the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Israel whose thinking was highly influential among Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Stanley Fischer, ex-vice Chair of US Federal Reserve and macroeconomist, dies at 81
Stanley Fischer, a highly influential figure in macroeconomics, has passed away at 81. He shaped central banking in Israel and the US, mentored prominent economists like Bernanke and Draghi, and co-authored the widely used textbook "Macroeconomics." Fischer's impact on global macroeconomic policy is immeasurable, leaving behind a legacy of research, teaching, and policy decisions. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New York: Stanley Fischer , a professor and practitioner of macroeconomics who helped guide central banks in two countries, Israel and the US, and mentored a younger generation of economic decision-makers, has died. He was died on Saturday, the Bank of Israel said in a statement, expressing known as Stan, served as vice chairman of the US Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 following eight years as governor of the Bank of Israel, adding to a resume that included time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spells at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and a stint as vice chairman of New York-based Citigroup roster of MIT students he taught and advised included Ben S. Bernanke, who would go on to become Fed chair and called Fischer his mentor; Mario Draghi, a future European Central Bank president and prime minister of Italy; Lawrence Summers, who would serve as US Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton; Greg Mankiw, who would lead President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers; Kazuo Ueda, named Bank of Japan governor in 2023; and IMF chief economists, including Olivier Blanchard, Ken Rogoff and Maurice other college undergraduates were introduced to the dismal science by Macroeconomics, the textbook Fischer wrote in 1978 with his MIT colleague, Rudi Dornbusch. The 13th edition of the book was published in 2018."It is hard to think of any other macroeconomist alive who has had as much direct and indirect influence, through his own research, his students, and his policy decisions, on macroeconomic policy around the world," Blanchard wrote of Fischer in 2023. Fischer and Blanchard co-authored Lectures on Macroeconomics, published in 1989. -BB
