Albert E. Rees (August 21, 1921 – September 5, 1992) was an American economist and noted author. An influential labor economist, Rees taught at Princeton University from 1966 to 1979, while also being an advisor to President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

. He was also a former Provost of Princeton and former president of the

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., then-president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support or ...

. He was also the first head of the Council on Wage and Price Stability, a short-lived federal agency.

Discussion

Born in New York City, Rees earned his bachelor's degree from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in 1943. He later received his master's degree and his doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago. After obtaining his Ph.D. in 1950, he went on to chair the economics department at Chicago from 1962 to 1966 before moving to Princeton as economics chair there. He later co-authored a landmark labor study with

George P. Shultz George Pratt Shultz (; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held fou ...

. Another notable book, ''The Economics of Work and Pay,'' remained in print for two decades over at least six editions at Harper Collins. Notable doctoral students at Princeton included the future Nobel Laureate James Heckman. He won many awards, including a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 1969 and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1971. Rees died on September 5, 1992, at University Medical Center of Princeton. Since 1997, Princeton University awards the "Albert Rees Prize" for an outstanding dissertation in labor economics.

has also established multiple Albert Rees prizes, including a Fellowship and an Assistantship. Duke University Libraries has a special collection with his papers. Additional special collections at

George Mason University Libraries George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was orig ...

and the

Ford Presidential Library The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is a repository located on the north campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The library houses archival materials on the life, career, and presidency of Gerald Ford, the 38th president of th ...

house archives for the Council on Wage and Price Stability, of which he was the founding director.

Council on Wage and Price Stability

The Council on Wage and Price Stability (COWPS or CWPS) Act was signed into law by President Ford in 1974, with Rees as the new agency's first head. It replaced the formal

price controls Price controls are restrictions set in place and enforced by governments, on the prices that can be charged for goods and services in a market. The intent behind implementing such controls can stem from the desire to maintain affordability of good ...

from the Nixon administration authorized under its precursor, the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 and its related agency, the Pay Board and Price Commission. The council continued under

President Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...

(with

Alfred E. Kahn Alfred Edward Kahn (October 17, 1917 – December 27, 2010) was an American economist and political advisor who specialized in regulation and deregulation. He was an important influence in the deregulation of the airline and energy industries ...

replacing Rees as its head under the new administration). When

Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

took office in 1981, CWPS economists moved to the newly formed

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA ) is a Division within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which in turn, is within the Executive Office of the President. OIRA oversees the implementation of government-wide policie ...

. Some labor and economic regulator responsibilities merged back into their historic homes with the National Labor Relations Board and the Council of Economic Advisors.

Selected publications

* * * * *

References

External links

Albert Rees Collection at Duke University

Council on Wage and Price Stability Archive at George Mason University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Albert 1921 births 1992 deaths Economists from New York (state) American academic administrators Writers from New York City Oberlin College alumni University of Chicago alumni Princeton University faculty Writers from New Jersey Writers from Chicago University of Chicago faculty Chicago School economists Alfred P. Sloan Foundation people United States presidential advisors Ford administration personnel American nonprofit chief executives New Jersey Republicans American people of Welsh descent Labor economists American economics writers George Mason University people Heads of United States federal agencies Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Economists from Illinois 20th-century American economists Journal of Political Economy editors

Discussion

Council on Wage and Price Stability

Selected publications

Archives

See also

References

External links