Edward M. Gramlich (June 18, 1939 – September 5, 2007) was an American economist who served as a member of the

Federal Reserve Board of Governors The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the mon ...

from 1997 to 2005. Gramlich was also an acting director of the

Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. Inspired by California's Legislative Analyst's Office that manages ...

. Gramlich graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

in 1961 and received a master's degree in 1962 and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

in 1965 from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. He joined the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

as a research economist from 1965 to 1970, and was a senior

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ec ...

from 1973 to 1976. He then taught economics and public policy at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1976 to 1997, including a term as dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and returned to Michigan as a professor in 2005.

Biography

He was appointed to the

Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

in 1997 and resigned in August 2005. For much of his term, he was the chair of the Board's Committee on Consumer and Community Affairs. He was also the chairman of the

Air Transportation Stabilization Board The Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB) is an office of United States Department of the Treasury created to assist US airlines in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, sig ...

, which was created by Congress after the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Suicide attack, suicide List of terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, ...

raised concerns about the survival of the U.S. airline industry. Gramlich had also chaired several other lesser-known stabilization boards created by Congress. In an April 2003 speech to the National Economists Club, he concluded that such boards are an ineffective way to help struggling industries because of the time it takes before help arrives and because the industries that are in need of help often have far deeper problems that the stabilization boards cannot fix. “If Congress wants to bail out an industry in a hurry, it should bail it out. It takes time to act in this program, which means it's probably not a good program for mergencyscenarios”, Gramlich told the club. Gramlich was also formerly the chairman of the

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation The Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, doing business as NeighborWorks America, is a congressionally chartered nonprofit organization that supports community development in the United States and Puerto Rico. The organization provides grant ...

and was seen as an expert on

subprime lending In finance, subprime lending (also referred to as near-prime, subpar, non-prime, and second-chance lending) is the provision of loans to people in the United States who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule. Historically, subpri ...

after his years as a banking regulator at the Federal Reserve. Gramlich had other government experience as well, serving as chairman of the Quadrennial Advisory Council on Social Security from 1994 to 1996 and as deputy director, and then acting director, of the

in 1986–1987. He also conducted research in 1992 on the economics of major league baseball and wrote a popular textbook on benefit-cost analysis that is in its second edition. Gramlich highlighted the problems with subprime mortgages prior to the 2007-09 financial crisis. His book, ''Subprime Mortgages: America's Latest Boom and Bust'', was published before the crisis was widely recognized and he had spoken out about them earlier. Gramlich died on September 5, 2007, from

acute myeloid leukemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cell production. Symptoms may includ ...

. He and his wife, Ruth had two children, Sarah and Robert, both married, and six grandchildren.

References

External links

August 2007 New York Times Article regarding Mr. GramlichPress release concerning Gramlich's resignation from the Federal ReserveJune 9, 2007 WSJ article about Gramlich's efforts to get Greenspan to crack down on predatory lendingList of postings by Edward Gramlich on the Urban Institute website for "nonpartisan economic and social policy research"Statements and Speeches of Edward M. Gramlich
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gramlich, Edward 1939 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American economists 20th-century American educators Federal Reserve System governors Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Deaths from acute myeloid leukemia Directors of the Congressional Budget Office University of Michigan faculty Clinton administration personnel George W. Bush administration personnel