About Alan S. Blinder

Economics

Alan S. Blinder is an economist, columnist, and public servant whose work has been instrumental in shaping both federal policy and the general public’s understanding of the American economy. In addition to his advisory and scholarly contributions, his plain-language breakdowns of complex economic crises and economic history have brought his knowledge to bear on the public arena.

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Blinder earned his BA from Princeton University, his MSc from the London School of Economics, and his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—all in economics. He has taught at Princeton since 1971, where he also chaired the economics department (1988–1990) and founded the Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies in 1989, serving as either director or co-director until 2011. Blinder is currently Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton, where he holds appointments in both the department of economics and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Blinder is the author or co-author of 23 books. Economics: Principles and Policy, co-written with William J. Baumol and John L. Solow, has been a vital introductory textbook since its first publication in 1979, eventually spawning Canadian, Australian, and Japanese editions; its fourteenth edition was published in 2016. His other books include After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead (2013); Advice and Dissent: Why America Suffers when Economics and Politics Collide (2018); and A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961–2021 (2022). Blinder’s writings on a variety of macroeconomic topics have broadened his scholarship far beyond the academic sphere: his op-eds have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, and he has published monthly columns for The Wall Street Journal since 2009. Blinder has also made frequent appearances on PBS’s Nightly Business Report, CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg TV.

As a public servant, Blinder’s insights helped guide policy and campaigns alike. He first served as the deputy assistant director of the Congressional Budget Office upon its founding in 1975. Under President Bill Clinton, Blinder was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers (1993–1994) and vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (1994–1996). He was also an economic adviser to the presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton, and he continues to advise members of Congress today.

Previously, Blinder was also president of the Eastern Economic Association and vice president of the American Economic Association. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the American Philosophical Society, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Blinder was named the AAPSS’s 2009 John Kenneth Galbraith Fellow and is also the 2023 Daniel Patrick Moynihan Fellow.

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