Steve H. Hanke

Steve H. Hanke is a professor of applied economics and founder and co-director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Hanke is recognized for his work on currency boards, dollarization, hyperinflation, water pricing and demand, benefit-cost analysis, privatization, and other areas in applied economics. He has taught economics at the Colorado School of Mines and the University of California, Berkeley, before joining Johns Hopkins University.

Hanke's career bridges academia and public policy, particularly in monetary economics. He served on President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, acted as a senior adviser to the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, advised five foreign heads of state and five foreign cabinet ministers, and served as a state counselor in both Lithuania and Montenegro. Hanke and his wife, Liliane, are credited with popularizing the term privatization in the American economic lexicon and facilitating its inclusion in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. He also served as president of Toronto Trust Argentina in Buenos Aires during its period as the world's best-performing mutual fund.

Hanke has played a significant role in establishing currency regimes in Argentina, Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Ecuador. He has contributed to anticipating or helping to stop hyperinflation in 21 countries, accounting for 26 of the 56 recorded episodes of hyperinflation. Hanke's Inflation Satellite, an interactive map, compiles inflation measurements and black-market foreign-exchange data for 44 countries tracked by the Johns Hopkins-Cato Institute Troubled Currencies Project.

Hanke is an author and commentator whose books include "Public Debt Sustainability: International Perspectives," "Did Lockdowns Work? The Verdict on Covid Restrictions," "Capital, Interest, and Waiting: Controversies, Puzzles, and New Additions to Capital Theory," and "Making Money Work: How to Rewrite the Rules of our Financial System." He is a contributing editor at International Economy and Central Banking, and a contributor at National Review and Fortune magazine.

Hanke has received honorary doctorate degrees from institutions such as Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Free University of Tbilisi, Istanbul Kültür University, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Varna Free University, Universität Liechtenstein, D.A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, and Universidad Nacional del Este for his scholarship on exchange-rate regimes. He was named one of the 25 most influential people in the world by World Trade Magazine and was named a Knight of the Order of the Flag by Montenegro in recognition of his contributions to global economic policy and monetary reform.