In recognition of his preeminence in world economics, both as an acclaimed academic and as a courageous and prescient policy maker; of his distinguished contribution to the State of Israel and its citizens as governor of its central bank, lending its economy exceptional stability during turbulent times by the force of his leadership, experience, wisdom, and wit; and of his tremendous personal and professional impact on generations of students and scholars, who have gone on to reach key positions of influence in the global economy.
Prof. Stanley Fischer is a highly respected economist and an expert on financial crises, whose recent appointment as Vice-Chair of the US Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors caps a distinguished career. This has included several leadership roles, among them, Governor of the Bank of Israel, where he led a monetary policy that successfully mitigated the effects of the global economic crisis of 2008 on the Israeli economy.
Fischer was born into a Jewish family in 1943 in Zambia. He received his BSc and MSc from the London School of Economics and his PhD, also in economics, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1969. In the early 1970s, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow and assistant professor at the University of Chicago, before moving to MIT, where he was an associate professor (1973-1977) and professor (1977-1999), helping to found a school of macro-economic thought that has come to dominate departments across the country. During this time, he co-authored three popular textbooks.
From academia, he turned to policy-making, starting with his role as an American government adviser to Israel’s highly successful economic stabilization program in the mid-1980s. Later he filled several top positions in world-leading financial organizations, including as Chief Economist of the World Bank (1988-1990), First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (1994-2001), and Vice Chairman of Citigroup (2002-2005). At the IMF, he earned his crisis-management experience, particularly in managing the Fund’s response to the 1994 Mexican and 1997-1998 Asian financial crises.
In January 2005, he was appointed Governor of the Bank of Israel, a position which he held until 2013, helping lead Israel’s small and open economy through the global financial crisis of 2008 with minimal damage. Later, with housing prices on the rise, Fischer advocated and adopted macroprudential policies to preserve financial stability and prevent the kind of asset bubbles that blew up disastrously in the US. In September 2009, the Bank of Israel would become the first central bank in the developed world to raise its interest rates, sending a strong message of growth and demonstrating, once again, that Fischer is not one to shy away from unconventional measures. His handling of the Israeli economy in the aftermath of the global financial crisis earned him plaudits across the board, and the respect and trust of the Israeli public.
In May 2014, he was sworn into the Federal Reserve’s seven-member Board of Governors, and in June, became its Vice Chairman.
Many of his former students went on to become influential economic policy leaders, including former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, and Lawrence Summers, former Clinton administration Treasury Secretary and head of President Barack Obama‘s National Economic Council.
Stanley Fischer is married to Rhoda and the couple has three adult children.