Michael J. Boskin

Senior Fellow
Biography: 

Michael J. Boskin is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the T. M. Friedman Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. In addition, he advises governments and businesses globally.

Boskin served as chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) from 1989 to 1993. The Independent Council for Excellence in Government rated his CEA as one of the five most respected agencies (out of one hundred) in the federal government. He chaired the highly influential blue-ribbon Commission on Consumer Price Index, whose report has transformed the way government statistical agencies around the world measure inflation, GDP, and productivity.

Boskin serves on several corporate and philanthropic boards of directors, including Exxon Mobil Corporation and Oracle Corporation.

In addition to Stanford and the University of California, Boskin has taught at Harvard and Yale. He is the author of more than one hundred and fifty books and articles. He is internationally recognized for his research on world economic growth, tax and budget theory and policy, US saving and consumption patterns, and the implications of changing technology and demography on capital, labor, and product markets. His op-eds appear regularly in the Wall Street Journal and other leading newspapers. He also writes a bimonthly column on global economics syndicated in 145 countries.

Boskin has received numerous professional awards and citations, including Stanford's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1988, the National Association of Business Economists' Abramson Award for outstanding research and its Distinguished Fellow Award, the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic in 1991 for his contributions to global economic understanding, and the 1998 Adam Smith Prize for outstanding contributions to economics.

Boskin received his BA with highest honors and the Chancellor's Award as outstanding undergraduate in 1967 from the University of California at Berkeley, where he also received his MA in 1968 and his PhD in 1971.

His research papers are available at the Hoover Institution Archives.

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Recent Commentary

Featured

The US Election And The Global Economy

by Michael J. Boskinvia Project Syndicate
Thursday, February 25, 2016

Big changes are underway in the US, as the country gears up to elect a new president, one-third of the Senate, and the entire House of Representatives this November. The outcome will have profound consequences for US economic policy, and thus for the global economy.

Micheal J. Boskin
Analysis and Commentary

The Council Of Economic Advisers: 70 Years Of Advising The President

by Michael J. Boskinvia Brookings Institution
Thursday, February 11, 2016

Michael Boskin discusses the economy and economic theory at Brookings's “The Council of Economic Advisers: 70 years of advising the president."

Rice on America leading again
Featured

New Year’s Resolutions For The Global Economy

by Michael J. Boskinvia Project Syndicate
Monday, December 28, 2015

Over the past year, global growth has been anemic – and the forecast for the coming year is only slightly better. Clearly, world leaders need to take strong action to boost incomes and expand opportunities for their people.

Featured

The Case For The TPP

by Michael J. Boskinvia Project Syndicate
Thursday, October 29, 2015

Following the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership by 12 Pacific Rim countries, debates about the costs and benefits of trade liberalization are intensifying. The early leaders in the United States’ presidential campaign, both the Republican Donald Trump and the Democrat Hillary Clinton, have expressed opposition to the TPP, though as Secretary of State, Clinton called it the “the gold standard of trade deals.”

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Are the Good Times Over?

by Michael J. Boskinvia Hoover Digest
Friday, October 16, 2015

Don’t settle for a “new normal” of sluggish growth—not when information technology is just beginning to bloom.

Featured

What Should China Do?

by Michael J. Boskinvia Project Syndicate
Wednesday, August 26, 2015

The Chinese government’s heavy-handed efforts to contain recent stock-market volatility – the latest move prohibits short selling and sales by major shareholders – have seriously damaged its credibility. But China’s policy failures should come as no surprise. Policymakers there are far from the first to mismanage financial markets, currencies, and trade.

Medicine For What Ails Europe

by Michael J. Boskinvia Hoover Digest
Friday, June 19, 2015

Five steps toward restoring economic sanity in the eurozone.

Analysis and Commentary

The Bloom Is Off The BRICS

by Michael J. Boskinvia Project Syndicate
Wednesday, June 17, 2015

A few years ago, pundits and policymakers were predicting that the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – would be the new engines of global growth. Naive extrapolation of rapid growth led many people to imagine an ever-brighter future for these economies – and, thanks to them, for the rest of the world as well.

Analysis and Commentary

Are The Good Times Over?

by Michael J. Boskinvia Project Syndicate
Monday, April 27, 2015

In the 25 years before the Great Recession of 2008-2009, the United States experienced two brief, mild recessions and two strong, long expansions. Globally, incomes grew briskly; inflation abated; and stock markets boomed.This time, however, the return to growth has been much more difficult.
 

Michael Boskin
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What Will Determine Our Economic Future?

by Michael J. Boskinvia Fellow Talks
Monday, April 20, 2015

Michael J. Boskin, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the T. M. Friedman Professor of Economics at Stanford University, discusses the big-picture items that will determine the United States’ economic future. 

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