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Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
Laffer Associates
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Policy Expert - Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
Senior Fellow Arthur B. Laffer is the founder and chairman of Laffer Associates, an economic research and consulting firm that provides global investment-research services to institutional asset managers, pension funds, financial institutions, and corporations. Since its inception in 1979, the firm’s research has focused on the interconnecting macroeconomic, political and demographic changes affecting global financial markets.
Dr. Laffer’s economic acumen and influence in triggering a world-wide tax-cutting movement in the 1980s have earned him the distinction in many publications as “The Father of Supply-Side Economics.” One of his earliest successes in shaping public policy was his involvement in Proposition 13, the groundbreaking California initiative that drastically cut property taxes in the state in 1978.
Dr. Laffer is a founding member of the Congressional Policy Advisory Board, a select group of advisors who assist in shaping legislative policies for the 105th, 106th and 107th United States Congress.
Dr. Laffer was a member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board for both of his two terms (1981-1989). He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Reagan/Bush Finance Committee in 1984 and was a founding member of the Reagan Executive Advisory Committee for the presidential race of 1980.
During the years 1972 to 1977, Dr. Laffer was a consultant to Secretary of the Treasury William Simon, Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld and Secretary of the Treasury George Shultz. He was the first to hold the title of Chief Economist at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Mr. Shultz from October 1970 to July 1972.
Dr. Laffer has been widely acknowledged for his economic achievements. Recently he was noted in Time Magazine’s March 29, 1999, cover story “The Century’s Greatest Minds” for inventing the Laffer Curve, which it deemed one of “a few of the advances that powered this extraordinary century.” He was listed in “A Dozen Who Shaped the ‘80s,” in the Los Angeles Times on Jan. 1, 1990, and in “A Gallery of the Greatest People Who Influenced Our Daily Business,” in the Wall Street Journal on June 23, 1989. His creation of the Laffer Curve was deemed a “memorable event” in financial history by the Institutional Investor in its July 1992 Silver Anniversary issue, “The Heroes, Villains, Triumphs, Failures and Other Memorable Events.”
Dr. Laffer received a B.A. in economics from Yale University in 1963. He received a MBA and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 1965 and 1972 respectively.
Laffer's Publications
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| Unemployment Stimulus is No Free Lunch | May 19, 2009 |
| By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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Some people equate federal dollars to the states to supplement state unemployment insurance (UI) programs with a free meal that should be enjoyed for as long, and often, as possible. The reaction to governors who question the efficacy of the recent stimulus package – most notably Texas Gov. Rick Perry – is simply the latest example of this mistaken belief. |
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| The Perfect As the Enemy of the Good: Market Failure or Market Opportunity? | December 31, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically: Lesson 10 | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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Consumers and producers are uniquely situated to make judgments about meeting their own wants and needs. So government regulation in the name of protecting consumers and competition—or in any other name for that matter—rarely lives up to its billing. |
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| When You're Right, Well, You're Right: The Laffer Curve | November 28, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically: Lesson 9 | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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For good or ill, many people reduce the entire pro-growth worldview of supply-side economics down to the “Laffer Curve,” which graphically depicts the tradeoff between tax rates versus the total tax revenues actually collected by the government. |
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| Entrepreneurs Versus Regulators: Government Intervention in the Market | November 13, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically: Lesson 8 | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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Whether you focus on theory or history, the lesson is clear: government intervention in the marketplace wastes resources, harms consumers, and often achieves the opposite from its intended goal. A deregulated, lightly taxed market is the best vehicle to achieve freedom and prosperity for all. |
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| Influential Issues | September 29, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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Economics is a science; its laws are like those of physics--immutable. Attempts by policymakers to circumvent these laws always result in unintended consequences. |
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| States' Right--To Mess It Up: What Makes a State Competitive? | September 12, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically: Lesson 7 | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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A pro-growth, market-friendly state attracts talented workers, entrepreneurs, and investment, which spurs job creation and booming tax receipts. Empirical evidence backs this up: on every important criterion, pro-growth states outperform those with hostile business climates. State policies matter! |
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| Competitive States: Texas v. California | September 09, 2008 |
| Economic Growth Prospects for the 21st Century | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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The result of a head-to-head competition between Texas and California is an economic blowout. The economic environment in Texas has significant advantages over California. The implications of this competitive advantage are clear; Texas’ economic prospects are bright and the Texas economy will significantly outperform California’s. |
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| Trade: You Ain't Got the Frills If You Ain't Got the Skills | June 30, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically: Lesson 6 | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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Many people today call for "fair" trade rather than free trade. But that ignores the fact that all free trade is fair because people only agree to trade if they believe they will benefit from it. |
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| Money Makes the World Go 'Round: And the Fed Makes Money | June 01, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically: Lesson 5 | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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Where our money comes from remains a mystery for most people. The answer would be much simpler if everyone conducted their transactions in cold hard cash. But we can start by applying the law of supply and demand. |
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| The Condition of Our Nation: The Press Is Always Wrong | April 30, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically: Lesson 4 | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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The U.S. today is in its best shape ever. Americans enjoy low flat(ish) tax rates, an economy open to foreign trade, and wealth unprecedented in human history. To continue to enjoy this prosperity, it is important to understand why the 1980s and beyond have been so much better. |
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| Government & Prosperity: Free Market Institutions | March 31, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically: Lesson 3 | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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Market institutions matter. Countries that have secure property rights and the rule of law have greater prosperity and greater freedom. |
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| What's It Worth? The Value of Things | February 29, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically: Lesson 2 | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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What made the Edsel so valueless and the Cabbage Patch doll so valuable? It wasn’t their intrinsic worth based on factors such as production costs or the skill of the labor used in their production. Instead, it was the value placed upon them by consumers. |
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| Violate at Your Own Risk: The Immutability of Economic Laws | January 18, 2008 |
| Thinking Economically: Lesson 1 | By Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
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Thinking Economically is a project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation designed to provide a basic economic education for policymakers, the media, and the general public. In this way, the Foundation hopes to highlight the intersection of economics and public policy, and the importance of “thinking economically” when making policy decisions. This paper shows that immutability of economic laws means that there are limits to what can be accomplished in the political realm.
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