David King "Dave" Backus (April 1953 – June 12, 2016)Obituary in the New York Times
/ref>Obituary
by Tom Cooley was an American economist, specializing in

financial economics Financial economics, also known as finance, is the branch of economics characterized by a "concentration on monetary activities", in which "money of one type or another is likely to appear on ''both sides'' of a trade". William F. Sharpe"Financia ...

and international macroeconomics. He was the Heinz Riehl Professor at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

's Stern School of Business. Backus made several significant contributions to macroeconomics and finance, including the canonical international business cycle model with Patrick J. Kehoe and

Finn Kydland Finn Erling Kydland (born 1 December 1943) is a Norwegian economist known for his contributions to business cycle theory. He is the Henley Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also holds the Richard P. Simmons ...

, and identifying the Backus–Smith puzzle (consumption and real-exchange-rates) and the Backus–Kehoe–Kydland puzzle (international consumption correlation). Prior to joining the Stern School in 1990, he studied at

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

(BA, 1975) and

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 ...

(PhD, 1981), taught at Queen's University and the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

, and served at the

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

. He died from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

in New York City on June 12, 2016.Tribute
by David K. Levine

References

External links

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at the Stern School of Business {{DEFAULTSORT:Backus, David K. 1953 births 2016 deaths New York University faculty Yale University alumni Queen's University at Kingston faculty University of British Columbia faculty Economists from New York (state) Financial economists Macroeconomists Hamilton College (New York) alumni Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in New York (state)