Biography of Art Laffer

Arthur B. Laffer is the founder and chairman of Laffer Associates, an economic research and consulting firm that provides global investment-research services to institutional asset managers, pension funds, financial institutions, and corporations. Since its inception in 1979, the firm's research has focused on the interconnecting macroeconomic, political and demographic changes affecting global financial markets.

Dr. Authur Laffer's economic acumen and influence in triggering a world-wide tax-cutting movement in the 1980s has earned him the distinction in many publications as "The Father of Supply-Side Economics." One of his earliest successes in shaping public policy was his involvement in Proposition 13, the groundbreaking California initiative that drastically cut property taxes in the state in 1978.

Years of experience and success in advising on a governmental level have distinguished Dr. Laffer in the business community as well. He sits on the board of directors of several public companies, and a number of private companies including ProFlowers, Clark Bardes, HNTB, Manhattan East Suite Hotels, Retirement Capital Group, Vizional Technologies, The Mayfair Group, Olympius Capital, Qualmag, Endovascular Instruments, Enverity, CB Berkman Capital, ValuBond, Sonic Telecom, U.S. Script and Castle Creek Capital.

Arthur Laffer is a founding member of the Congressional Policy Advisory Board, a select group of advisors who assist in shaping legislative policies for the 105th, 106th and 107th United States Congress. He was a member of President Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board for both of his two terms, a member of the executive committee of the Reagan/Bush Finance Committee, and was a founding member of the Reagan executive advisory committee for the presidential race of 1980.

Dr. Laffer was formerly the distinguished university professor at Pepperdine University and a member of the Pepperdine Board of Directors. He held the status as the Charles B. Thornton Professor of Business Economics at the University of Southern California, and was an associate professor of Business Economics at the University of Chicago, and a member of the Chicago faculty.

During the years 1972 to 1977, Dr. Laffer was a consultant to Secretary of the Treasury William Simon, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and Secretary of the Treasury George Shultz. He was the first to hold the title of Chief Economist at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Mr. Shultz from October 1970 to July 1972.

Dr. Laffer has been widely acknowledged for his economic achievements. He was noted in TIME magazine's 1999 cover story "The Century's Greatest Minds" for inventing the Laffer Curve, which was deemed "one of a few of the advances that powered this extraordinary century."

The awards that Dr. Laffer has received for his economic work include two Graham and Dodd Awards from the Financial Analyst Federation for outstanding feature articles published in the Financial Analysts Journal; the Distinguished Service Award by the National Association of Investment Clubs; the Adam Smith Award for his insights and contributions to the Wealth of Nations; and the Daniel Webster Award for public speaking by the International Platform Association.

Dr. Laffer received a B.A. in Economics from Yale University in 1963. He received a MBA and a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University in 1965 and 1971 respectively.

 

As a Ph.D. economist, an inventor, a professor, a public servant and an entrepreneur, Dr. Arthur B. Laffer and his breadth of experience and knowledge have earned him the recognition and respect of academics and businessmen alike. From being the youngest tenured professor at the University of Chicago to the first to hold the title of chief economist at the OMB under George Schultz at the ripe age of 30 years old, Dr. Laffer's life is a record of superlatives. Yet, he is most well-known for his invention of the Laffer Curve, which TIME magazine - along with the Wright brothers' airplane, Einstein's theory of relativity and Salk's polio vaccine - acknowledged in its cover story "The Century's Greatest Minds" as one of a few of the advances that powered the 20th century.

Like the other famous thinkers and doers credited by TIME, Art Laffer translated his love for the dull science into powerful ideas that challenged conventional wisdom and changed people's lives for the better. As President Ronald Reagan's chief economic adviser during this country's greatest period of economic expansion, Dr. Laffer and his supply-side work helped trigger a world-wide tax cutting movement in the 1980's. Distinguished with two Graham & Dodd awards, an Adam Smith award and honored in the Wall Street Journal's Gallery of the Greatest People Who Influenced Our Daily Business, Dr. Laffer's political and economic insights continue to have impact.

As CEO and founder of his own economic consulting and research firm, Laffer Associates, as a board member of billion dollar, public and private companies, and as a very proud father supporting six children, Dr. Laffer continues to invent, research, write and provide expert advice on his life-long passion: economics.