Stanley Fischer, one of the world’s most influential economists in recent decades, died this Saturday at age 81, according to the Bank of Israel. Fischer had a double race. As an academic, he trained generations of economists both in his classes of the University of Chicago and the Technological Institute of Massachusetts (MIT) and through his books, especially his 1978 Macroeconomy Manual, which he wrote with his colleague Rudi Dornbusch. As a political manager, he held among others the number two positions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), governor of the Bank of Israel and vice president of the Federal Reserve. He also had among his students at Mario Draghi, future president of the European Central Bank and Prime Minister of Italy; Lawrence Summers, who held the position of Secretary of the United States Treasury with Bill Clinton as president; Greg Mankiw, who directed the Council of Economic Advisors of President George W. Bush; Kazuo Ueda, appointed governor of the Bank of Japan in 2023, and two chief economists of the IMF, Olivier Blanchard and Maurice Obstfeld. “Stan was my mentor and my friend. He was an exceptional economist, a prominent politic 2023, Blanchard himself, who published a macroeconomics book in 1989 with his teacher, wrote about him: “It is difficult to think of another living macroeconomist that has had so much direct and indirect influence, through his own research, his students and his political decisions, in the macroeconomic politics of the whole world.” of a community of Jews of Baltic origin that had emigrated to southern Africa. He obtained his degree and his master’s degree in the Economics at the London School of Economics. In 1969, he was a doctorate in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was Professor of Economics at MIT from 1977 to 1999 and associated professor from 1973 to 1977. Before joining the MIT teaching staff, he was an deputy professor of economics and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago. In parallel, from January 1988 to August 1990, he was chief economist of the World Bank. He held the position of the first deputy manager of the International Monetary Fund from September 1994 to August 2001, when he resigned. As number two of Michel Camdessus in the IMF, he had to deal with financial crises in Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea. When leaving the international agency, he was vice president of Citigroup from February 2002 to April 2005. Double American and Israeli nationality had been since in 2005 he was appointed governor of the Bank of Israel, a position he held until 2013. The Central Bank of Israel was the first to cut the interest rates in 2008, at the beginning of the world economic crisis, and the first to upload them the following year in response to the financial recovery signs. Decades before he was part of the team of economists who developed the stabilization plan that faced the economic crisis in Israel in 1985 and that served to overcome a prolonged weak growth period, three -digit inflation and fall in foreign exchange reserves. “Professor Fischer had a great impact on Israel’s economy, both during the 1980s, when he was a representative of the International Monetary Fund in Israel In the elaboration of the 1985 Economic Stabilization Plan, as later, during his mandate as governor, when he directed a responsible economic policy for a difficult period, including the global financial crisis of 2008, ”recalled the Bank of Israel this Sunday in a statement. Perhaps the only one that will be, and I have made the decision after reflecting a lot, ”said Fischer in a statement. There were two obstacles to it: with 67 years, it exceeded the age limit of 65 years that was demanded and, in addition, the position is traditionally reserved for a European Federal. “Stan’s acute perceptions, based on a lifetime of exemplary academic work and public service, have contributed invalibly to our deliberations on monetary policy. He has represented the Council with international distinction and has led our efforts to promote financial stability, ”said the then president of the Fed Janet Yellen, announcing her resignation. Draghi (T) MIT (T) Federal Reserve (T) Israel (T) IMF (T) World Bank
