Arthur M. Okun Memorial Lectures and Conversations

Okun Memorial Lecture Speakers

April 9, 2020

Claudia Goldin, Henry Lee Professor of Economics, Harvard University [Biographical Sketch]
“Journey across the Century of Women”
Ben S. Bernanke portrait

April 10, 2019
Ben S. Bernanke, Former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
[Biographical Sketch -  News Article - Slide Deck]
“The Real Effects of Disrupted Credit”
Timothy Geithner portrait October 1, November 19, and December 3, 2014
Timothy Geithner, Former U.S. Treasury Secretary [Press Release]
    “Three Lectures on Global Financial Crisis”
Daniel Kahneman portrait February 2013
Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Laureate, Senior Scholar; Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology, Emeritus; and Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs, Emeritus, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University [Biographical Sketch — Press Release — Photographs — YouTube Video]
   “A Psychological Perspective on Rationality”
Raghuram G. Rajan portrait March 2010
Raghuram G. Rajan, Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
[Biographical Sketch — Press Release]
   “Is It Over Yet? The Deeper Underpinnings of the Crisis”
Robert E. Rubin portrait April 2009
Robert E. Rubin, Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations and Former U.S. Treasury Secretary [Biographical Sketch — Press Release — Photographs]
   “The Global Crisis and Decision Making”
Lawrence H. Summers portrait April 2008
Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University [Biographical Sketch — Press Release — Video/Transcript: Part 1, Part 2]
   “Learning from and Responding to Financial Crisis”
Kenneth S. Rogoff portrait September 2006
Kenneth S. Rogoff, Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics, Harvard University [Biographical Sketch — Press Release]
   “The Globalization of Monetary Policy”
Richard B. Freeman portrait October 2003
Richard B. Freeman, Herbert Ascherman Professor of Economics, Harvard University [Biographical Sketch — Press Release]
   “Working at the Endless Frontier: The Job Market for Scientists and
     Engineers”
      » What is Different about the Science and Engineering Job Market
      » Producing and Using Knowledge
      » Who Owns Science and Engineering?
Alan S. Blinder portrait April 2002
Alan S. Blinder, Professor of Economics and Co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Studies, Princeton University [Press Release]
  “The Quiet Revolution: Central Banking Goes Modern”
      » Through the Looking Glass: Central Bank Transparency
      » Ex Uno Plures: Central Banking By Committee
      » Who’s the Boss?: The Central Bank and the Markets
Joseph E. Stiglitz portrait March 2001
Joseph E. Stiglitz, Joan Kennedy Professor of Economics, Stanford University [Press Release]
   “A Tale of Two Countries: Transition to a Market Economy in China and Russia”
      » Whither Reform? The Great Experiments
      » Privatization and Corporate Governance: Wealth Creation or Asset Stripping?
      » Shock Therapy vs. Peaceful and Strategic Evolution: Speculations on
         Why China Succeeded and Russia Failed
Jeffrey D. Sachs portrait April 2000
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Center for International Development, Harvard University [Press Release]
   “The Poorest of the Poor: The Unmet Challenge of Global Development”
      » Globalization and the Poorest of the Poor: The Limits of Convergence
      » The Health-Nutrition-Population Nexus: The Scope for Public Action
      » The Role of International Assistance: A Redesign of International Strategies
Robert E. Hall portrait October 1988
Robert E. Hall, Professor of Economics, Stanford University and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
   “Booms and Recessions in a Noisy Economy”
      » Noise over Space and over Time
      » Measuring Noise
      » General Equilibrium with Noise
Charles L. Schultze portrait October 1985
Charles L. Schultze, Director, Bureau of the Budget, Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
  “Macroeconomic Lessons from U.S. and European History”
      » Inertial Inflation: Some Lessons from History
      » Real Wage Rigidity in Europe: Reality or Illusion?
      » A Century of U.S. Economic Fluctuations: Why Has Performance Improved?
Nicholas Kaldor portrait October 1983
Nicholas Kaldor, Professor of Economics, King’s College, Cambridge
   “Economics without Equilibrium”
      » Stylized Facts as a Basis for Theory Building
      » Supply and Demand
      » Interregional Trade and Cumulative Causation

Okun Memorial Conversations

November 1, 2018

Jamil Anderlini, Asia Editor of the Financial Times

April 11, 2018

Karen Dynan, Professor of the Practice of Economics, Harvard Kennedy School 
September 2015
John Paulson, President and Portfolio Manager, Paulson & Co. Inc.
In conversation with Robert Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale University

Arthur M. Okun at desk with pipe (1928-1980)The lecture and conversation series honors the memory of Arthur M. Okun (1928–1980). The donor, a Yale alumnus who was a long-time associate, friend, and admirer of Okun, stated the reasons for the series in these words:

Arthur Okun combined his special gifts as an analytical and theoretical economist with his great concern for the well-being of his fellow citizens into a thoughtful, pragmatic, and sustaining contribution to his nation’s public policy.

Extraordinarily modest personally, he was a delightful and trenchant activist on behalf of others — both as members of our whole society and as individuals. He touched many, many people in ways they will always cherish.

Offered in affectionate appreciation of Art’s gifts, this lecture series seeks to recognize and encourage professional economists to search for policies that will contribute to the betterment of life and living.

Biography — In Memoriam — Publication List — Books Based on Lectures