Arthur 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.
Arthur Laffer was a member of President Ronald 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.
He was formerly the Distinguished University Professor at Pepperdine
University and a member of the
Pepperdine Board of Directors. He also held the status as the Charles B.
Thornton Professor of Business Economics at the University
of Southern California from 1976 to
1984. He was an Associate Professor of Business Economics at the University
of Chicago from 1970 to 1976 and a
member of the Chicago faculty from
1967 through 1976.
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.
Arthur Laffer has been widely acknowledged for his economic achievements. 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 Institutional Investor in its July 1992 Silver Anniversary issue,
"The Heroes, Villains, Triumphs, Failures and Other Memorable Events."
The awards that Dr. Laffer has received for his economic work include: two
Graham and Dodd Awards from the Financial Analyst Federation for outstanding
feature articles published in the Financial Analysts Journal; the Distinguished
Service Award by the National Association of Investment Clubs; the Adam Smith
Award for his insights and contributions to the Wealth of Nations; and the
Daniel Webster Award for public speaking by the International Platform
Association. Dr. Laffer also earned the Father of the Year award from the West
Coast Father's Day Committee in 1983.