Martin Feldstein, a renowned economist and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, passed away on June 11.
Feldstein was the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers for President Reagan. Hoover Fellows who served on this council with him included Tom Gilligan, John Cochrane and David Henderson.
Gilligan, director of the Hoover Institution, said, “The Hoover Institution is deeply saddened by the loss of Martin Feldstein. Martin was a champion of free market economics and his contributions and revolutionary work on tax and fiscal policies will have a lasting impact at the Hoover Institution and beyond. Our thoughts and prayers go to his family and friends.”
John Taylor said, “Marty Feldstein was uniquely able to turn the best in economic ideas into excellent practical advice. He thereby made huge improvements in economic policy from tax reform to international currencies to monetary and budget policy. I remember most how we worked together in several political campaigns. He was a master at successfully bringing good ideas into platforms of action. That was Marty's way. His last visit to Hoover in February was memorable for all these reasons. We will miss him greatly."
Feldstein was also the George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University and President Emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He served as president and CEO of the NBER from 1977-82 and 1984-2008. The NBER is a private, nonprofit research organization that has specialized for nearly 100 years in producing nonpartisan studies of the American economy.
He served as president of the American Economic Association in 2004. In 2006, President Bush appointed him to be a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. In 2009, President Obama appointed him to be a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
Feldstein was a member of the American Philosophical Society, a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, a fellow of the Econometric Society and a Fellow of the National Association of Business Economists. He was a trustee of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Trilateral Commission, the Group of 30, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Council of Academic Advisors of the American Enterprise Institute.
Feldstein received honorary doctorates from several universities and was an Honorary Fellow of Nuffield College (Oxford), and Brasenose College (Oxford). In 1977, he received the John Bates Clark Medal 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 was the author of more than 300 research articles in economics. Feldstein has been a director of several public corporations. He was also an economic adviser to several businesses and government organizations in the United States and abroad. He was also regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal and other publications.
Feldstein was a graduate of Harvard College and Oxford University. He was born in New York City in 1939. He is survived by his wife and two daughters. A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. ET Thursday, June 13, at Levine Chapels at 470 Harvard Street in Brookline, MA 02446.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Clifton B. Parker, Hoover Institution: (650) 498-5204, cbparker@stanford.edu
