Henry Christopher Wallich (; June 10, 1914 – September 15, 1988) was a
German 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 m ...
from 1974 to 1986. He previously served as a member of the
Council of the Economic Advisers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
under President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
. Wallich also held a professorship of economics at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
. He was best known as an economic columnist for ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' magazine, from 1965 until he joined The Federal Reserve. For a period he wrote one week in three, with
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...
and
Paul Samuelson
Paul Anthony Samuelson (May 15, 1915 – December 13, 2009) was an American economist who was the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. When awarding the prize in 1970, the Swedish Royal Academies stated that he " ...
, with their 1967 columns earning the magazine a
Gerald Loeb Special Award The Gerald Loeb Award is given annually for multiple categories of business reporting. Special awards were occasionally given for distinguished business journalism that doesn't necessarily fit into other categories.
Gerald Loeb Special Award winner ...
in 1968.
Early life
Wallich was born in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
on June 10, 1914, to
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
and Hildegard Rehrmann Wallich. His father and paternal grandfather were both bankers. Wallich had a brother, Walter, and a sister, Christel. He began 10 years at the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 1941, becoming chief of its foreign research division. He earned a Ph.D. (
Doctor of Philosophy
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 ...
) from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
in 1944, and became an American citizen in the same year.
Work
Wallich interests included the
developing country economies in the
third world
The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
. He became a consultant to officials of
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
and
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
in the pre-
Castro era. He served on the advisory board of the
Arms Control and
Disarmament
Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as ...
Agency in 1972-73 and was the United States representative on the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
Experts Panel on the Economic Consequences of the
Arms Race. Before joining the Federal Reserve Board, he was a director of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company, the United Illuminating Company, the Lionel Edie Capital Fund and the First New Haven National Bank, and other institutions.
He was appointed by President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
as a Governor of 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 ...
, in 1974 as one of the Fed's seven Governors. and served until 1986, resigning from poor health.
EconPapers: Henry C. Wallich resigned as a member of the Board of Governors effective December 15, 1986
/ref>
Mr. Wallich's proposal espoused in 1971 with Sidney Weintraub, a liberal economist, for a tax-based incomes policy, or TIP. The plan, to control inflation, required an income-tax surcharge to be levied on companies raising their average wage level above specified inflation-related guide-lines. The Wallich-Weintraub plan never became law. He was the board's main emissary to the Bank for International Settlements, the institution in Basel, Switzerland, that serves the world's central banks.[Hershey, Robert D., Jr. (September 16, 1988).]
Henry C. Wallich, 74, Dies - Served on Federal Reserve
. ''New York Times''. nytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
Personal life and later years
In 1950 he married Mable Inness Brown, an economist from Floral Park, Long Island. They met while both were working at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. After failing health and an operation on a brain tumour, he died in 1988 at George Washington University Hospital
The George Washington University Hospital is a for-profit hospital, located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is affiliated with the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The current facility opened on ...
aged 74. He was survived by his wife, Mable, mother Hildegard, and children, Christine Wallich, Anna Wallich and Paul Wallich.
Works
*''The Mainsprings of the German Revival'' (1955)
*''The Cost of Freedom, Conservatives and Modern Capitalism, The Case For A Free Economy'' (1960)
Awards
* 1974 Gerald Loeb Award for Columns/Editorial for "Trust Busting the USA"
References
*''International Monetary Cooperation: Essays in Honor of Henry C. Wallich'' (1987)
Notes
External links
Statements and Speeches of Henry Christopher Wallich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallich, Henry
1914 births
1988 deaths
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American economists
Federal Reserve System governors
Gerald Loeb Award winners for Columns, Commentary, and Editorials
Harvard University alumni
Nixon administration personnel
Ford administration personnel
Carter administration personnel
Reagan administration personnel
United States Council of Economic Advisers
German emigrants to the United States
Member of the Mont Pelerin Society