George L. Perry is an American

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, currently a Senior Fellow emeritus 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 ...

.http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/experts/p/perryg/perryg_cv.pdf In 1970, he and Arthur Okun founded the Brookings Panel and its journal, the

Brookings Papers on Economic Activity {{Infobox Journal , title = Brookings Papers on Economic Activity , cover = , former_name = , abbreviation = Brook. Pap. Econ. Act. , discipline = Economics , language = , editors = Janice Eberly ...

(BPEA). They conceived the Panel as a way to apply rigorous economic research to current economic puzzles, problems and policy issues. After Okun's death in 1980, William Brainard replaced him and Brainard and Perry ran the Panel and edited BPEA until 2007. In his own research, Perry specializes in labor markets, inflation, fiscal and monetary policy, financial markets, and economic forecasting.

Life and career

George Perry was born in New York in 1934, and grew up in Los Angeles. He enrolled at

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

in 1950, and upon graduation served in the U.S. Air Force (1954-1957). After his service, George returned to MIT and received his Ph.D in economics in 1961. Perry served on the staff of the

Council of Economic Advisors The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the President of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...

under President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, and subsequently was on the economics faculty at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, reaching the rank of full professor. In 1969 he returned to Washington to join The

as a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies. In addition to his work at the

, he is a Director Emeritus of various Dreyfus mutual funds and of the State Farm Mutual Automobile Association and State Farm Life Insurance Company.

Brookings Papers on Economic Activity

Soon after they both arrived at Brookings, George Perry and Arthur Okun founded the Brookings Panel and its Journal, the

. They would run the Panel meetings and edit BPEA together until Okun's death in 1980. In the following year Perry enlisted William Brainard to replace Okun, and they ran and edited BPEA for the next 27 years. When Perry and Brainard turned the Panel over to their chosen successors,

Steven Pearlstein Steven Pearlstein is an American columnist who wrote on business and the economy in a column published twice weekly in ''The Washington Post''. His tenure at the WaPo ended on March 3, 2021. Pearlstein received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Commentar ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' commented: "Twice a year since 1970, some of the best economists in the world gathered at the Brookings Institution to deliver and critique papers on all the hot topics in macroeconomics. The quality was always high and the disagreements were spirited but respectful, with none of the partisan or ideological rancor that now characterizes so much of economic conversation. But last week's meeting of the panel was special. Nearly 100 alumni, including a certain former Federal Reserve chairman and three Nobel prize winners, gathered to pay tribute to George Perry, a Brookings fixture, and Yale professor Bill Brainard, who have been the guiding hands and spirit of the panel for the past 27 years. It's only a slight exaggeration to say that there are few pieces of received wisdom in macroeconomics today that don't have Perry's and Brainard's fingerprints on them. And it tells you something about the institution they nourished that they will be succeeded by a trio of top-flight economists with deep Washington experience: former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers; Greg Mankiw, former head of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers; and Doug Elmendorf, who's worked at the Treasury, Fed,Congress and the White House."

Publications

Perry has published many research papers in the

and in other professional journal including the

American Economic Review The ''American Economic Review'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Economic Association. First published in 1911, it is considered one of the most prestigious and highly distinguished journals in the field of ec ...

and the

National Tax Journal The National Tax Association - Tax Institute of America (NTA) is a US non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to the study and discussion of public taxation, spending, and borrowing decisions by governments around the world. Since its fou ...

. In addition to his research papers, Perry has authored and edited numerous books including ''Unemployment, Money Wage Rates, and Inflation'' (MIT Press, 1996), ''Curing Chronic Inflation'' (Brookings, 1978), and ''Economic Events, Ideas, and Policies: The 1960s and After'' (Brookings, 2000).

Personal life

George Perry married the former Dina Axelrad in 1987, and they live in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He has three children by a previous marriage and three grandchildren. He is learning to play the cello.

References

External links

Personal webpage at Brookings
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, George American economists 1934 births Living people MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni