Economics expert here as visiting scholar

Economics
expert here as visiting scholar
…………………………………………………………………

BY
MAILEEN HAMTO
Special to the Rice News

Murray Weidenbaum,
founder and chairman of the Murray Weidenbaum Center on
the Economy, Government and Public Policy, joins the Jesse
H. Jones Graduate School of Management as the Ken Lay, Vinson
& Elkins Visiting Scholar from Jan. 2 through May 31.

Weidenbaum,
the Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor at Washington
University in St. Louis, has been an economist in three
worlds: business, government and academia.

A notable expert
in American and global economics, Weidenbaum joined Washington
University in 1964 and served as chairman of the economics
department from 1966 to 1969. In 1975, he founded the university’s
Center for the Study of American Business. For most of the
past 25 years, he has led the center as director and chairman
in its mission of producing scholarly research on issues
affecting the American business system. The center originally
was funded by a grant from the John M. Olin Foundation and
continues to be funded entirely with donations from foundations,
corporations and private individuals. Recently, the center
was renamed the Murray Weidenbaum Center on the Economy,
Government and Public Policy.

“Murray’s
vast accomplishments and expertise in government and government
policy make him an outstanding resource for our faculty,
many of whom are interested in interactions between the
private sector and government, particularly in how policy
affects business and decision-making in industry,”
said Gil Whitaker, dean of the Jones School. “Murray’s
continuing work in this area and his unparalleled experience
will assist our faculty as they research public policy issues.”

“I’m
working on a study of U.S. and international trade policy,
developing a high middle ground in a controversial area,”
Weidenbaum said. “I could have spent this sabbatical
in any number of places. I’m here at Rice because of
Gil Whitaker — if my wife Phyllis were asked, she’d
say because of Gil and Ruth. We were together at Washington
University, and when Gil was at the University of Michigan,
I was a guest lecturer there. We’ve been friends for
a long time.”

As President
Reagan’s first chairman of the Council of Economic
Advisers from 1981 to ’82, Weidenbaum helped formulate
the economic policy of the Reagan administration and was
a key spokesman for the administration on economic and financial
issues. He was a member of the president’s Economic
Policy Advisory Board from 1983 to ’89.

Prior to serving
the Reagan administration, Weidenbaum was assistant secretary
of the treasury for economic policy in the Nixon administration.
He also served as fiscal economist in the U.S. Bureau of
the Budget.

Weidenbaum,
who served as corporate economist at the Boeing Co., is
a member of the boards of directors of Harbour Group, Macroeconomic
Advisers, Tesoro Petroleum Corp. and the Center for Strategic
and International Studies.

He is a member
of advisory boards of the Congressional Joint Tax Committee,
the Center for Strategic Tax Reform, the American Council
for Capital Formation, the American Enterprise Institute
and the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is a fellow
of the National Association of Business Economies, honorary
fellow of the Association for Technical Communication and
a past president of the Midwest Economic Association.

Widely recognized
for his research on economic policy, taxes, government spending
and regulation, Weidenbaum has authored eight books. His
latest is the sixth edition of “Business and Government
in the Global Marketplace,” in which he addresses the
intricate relationship between the public sector and the
private sector — why and how government intervenes
in the economy and how business can respond. His book “The
Bamboo Network,” which illustrates how a group of ethnic
Chinese families has been the driving force behind China’s
transition from communism to capitalism, was a finalist
in the 1996 competition for “Global Business Book of
the Year.” In his book “Small Wars, Big Defense,”
Weidenbaum draws on his years of government and industrial
experience to offer a look at the troubled U.S. military.
The book was judged by the Association of American Publishers
to be the “Outstanding Economics Book of 1992.”
In addition, he has written several hundred articles in
publications ranging from the American Economic Review to
the Wall Street Journal.

On the international
front, Weidenbaum served as chairman of the Economic Policy
Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development. He also has lectured at universities and research
institutes throughout western Europe and Asia. In 1989 he
was a member of a presidential mission to Poland. In June
1999, he was elected chairman of the Congressional Commission
to Review the Trade Deficit. In recognition of his contributions
to foreign policy, he received the National Order of Merit
from France.

Weidenbaum received
a bachelor’s degree from City College of New York,
a master’s from Columbia University and a doctoral
degree from Princeton University.

His visit is
being sponsored by Vinson & Elkins in honor of Ken Lay,
chairman and chief executive officer of Enron.

— Maileen
Hamto is assistant director of public relations at the Jesse
H. Jones Graduate School of Management.