Economist, Professor, Presidential Advisor. Murray Weidenbaum graduated in 1948 with an economics degree from the City College of New York, where he also was president of the student council. He received a master’s degree in economics from Columbia University in 1949 and spent much of the 1950s as an economist with the Bureau of the Budget in Washington. He was awarded a master’s degree in public administration from Princeton University in 1958, then became chief economist with the airplane manufacturer Boeing in Seattle before joining the Washington University faculty in the mid-1960s. Throughout his career, Weidenbaum served or advised five U.S. presidents and scores of other policy makers. He served as President Ronald Reagan's first chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and was widely known as a key architect of "Reaganomics," issuing the first written version of Reagan's economic plan in 1981. However, when Reagan later pushed massive increases in the military budget, Weidenbaum quietly tendered his resignation and resumed his 50-year career at Washington University in St. Louis.∼Murray Lew Weidenbaum was an American economist. He was the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor and Honorary Chairman of the Murray Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. He has served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy (1969-1971). He was chairman of President Ronald Reagan's first Council of Economic Advisors from 1981-1982.

He received a B.B.A. from City College of New York, an M.A. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University with thesis titled Government Spending: Process and Measurement. He has been a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis since 1964 and was chair of the economics department from 1966 to 1969. In 1975 he helped found the Center for the Study of American Business at Washington University, which was later renamed the Weidenbaum Center in his honor.

Weidenbaum did extensive research on the role of the bamboo network in Southeast Asia. He explores the topic in his book The Bamboo Network: How Expatriate Chinese Entrepreneurs are Creating a New Economic Superpower in Asia.



Murray Lew Weidenbaum


12th Chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers

In office
February 27, 1981 – August 25, 1982

President
Ronald Reagan

Preceded by
Charles Schultze

Succeeded by
Martin Feldstein

United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy

In office
1969–1971

President
Richard Nixon

Succeeded by
Edgar Fiedler

Personal details


Born
February 10, 1927
Bronx, New York City

Died
March 20, 2014 (aged 87)
Clayton, Missouri

Nationality
American

Spouse(s)
Phyllis Green

Children
3

Alma mater
City College of New York (B.A.)
Columbia University (M.A.)
Princeton University (Ph.D.)

Occupation
Economist

Religion
Judaism