Jones Journal -- Alumni Magazine of the Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University

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Jones School Welcomes Murray Weidenbaum as Visiting Scholar
– By Maileen Hamto, Assistant Director of Public Relations

Murray Weidenbaum and Assistant Professor Karen Schneitz discuss their work in government and private enterprise relationships.

Murray Weidenbaum, founder and chairman of the Murray Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University joins the Jones School as the Ken Lay, Vinson & Elkins Visiting Scholar, January 2-May 31.

Weidenbaum, Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor at Washington University, has been an economist in three worlds—business, government, and academia. A notable expert in American and global economics, Weidenbaum founded the Center for the Study of American Business in 1975. For most of the past 25 years, he has led the center as director and chairman in its mission of producing scholarly research on issues affecting the American business system.

The center was renamed the Murray Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy in honor of its founder and chairman.

“Murray’s vast accomplishments and expertise in government and government policy make him an outstanding resource for our faculty, many of whom are interested in interactions between the private sector and government, particularly how policy affects business and decision-making in industry. Murray’s continuing work in this area and his unparalleled experience will assist our faculty as they research public policy issues,” said Dean Gil Whitaker. Weidenbaum’s visit is being sponsored by Vinson & Elkins in honor of Ken Lay, chairman of Enron Corp.

“I’m working on a study of U.S. and international trade policy, developing a high middle ground in a controversial area,” said Weidenbaum. “I could have spent this sabbatical in any number of places. I’m here at Rice because of Gil —if my wife Phyllis were asked, she’d say because of Gil and Ruth. We were together at Washington University and, when Gil was at the University of Michigan, I was a guest lecturer there. We’ve been friends for a long time.”

As President Reagan’s first chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1981-82, Weidenbaum helped formulate the economic policy of the Reagan administration and was a key spokesman for the administration on economic and financial issues. He was a member of the president’s Economic Policy Advisory Board from 1983-89. Prior to serving the Reagan administration, Weidenbaum was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy in the Nixon administration. He also served as fiscal economist in the U.S. Bureau of the Budget.

Weidenbaum, who served as corporate economist at the Boeing Co., is a member of the boards of directors of Harbour Group, Macroeconomic Advisers, Tesoro Petroleum Corp., and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is a member of advisory boards of the Congressional Joint Tax Committee, the Center for Strategic Tax Reform, the American Council for Capital Formation, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is a Fellow of the National Association of Business Economies, Honorary Fellow of the Association for Technical Communication, and a past president of the Midwest Economic Association. Widely recognized for his research on economic policy, taxes, government spending, and regulation,

Weidenbaum has authored eight books. His latest is the sixth edition of Business and Government in the Global Marketplace, in which he addresses the intricate relationship between the public sector and the private sector—why and how government intervenes in the economy and how business can respond. His book The Bamboo Network— which illustrates how a group of ethnic Chinese families has been the driving force behind China’s transition from communism to capitalism—was a finalist in the 1996 competition for “Global Business Book of the Year.”

In his book Small Wars, Big Defense, Weidenbaum draws on his years of government and industrial experience to offer a look at the troubled U.S. military. The book was judged by the Association of American Publishers to be the “Outstanding Economics Book of 1992.” In addition, he has written several hundred articles in publications ranging from the American Economic Review to the Wall Street Journal.

On the international front, Weidenbaum served as chairman of the Economic Policy Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. He has also lectured at universities and research institutes throughout western Europe and Asia. In June 1999, he was elected chairman of the Congressional Commission to Review the Trade Deficit. In recognition of his contributions to foreign policy, he received the National Order of Merit from France.

Weidenbaum received a B.B.A. from City College of New York, an M.A. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.