Alan Blinder

Alan Stuart Blinder (born October 14, 1945) is an American economist and academic who has served as the Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics at Princeton University since 1971, with emeritus status following retirement from active teaching. He earned an A.B. from Princeton in 1967, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics in 1968, and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Blinder's career includes significant public service roles, such as membership on President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers from 1993 to 1994 and as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from June 1994 to January 1996, where he advocated for greater transparency in monetary policy deliberations. His research has focused on macroeconomics, monetary policy, central banking, and labor market dynamics, including empirical studies on unemployment and the effects of offshoring on employment. Blinder has authored or co-authored numerous books, including the award-winning After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead (2013), which analyzes the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and widely used textbooks such as Economics: Principles and Policy.

Blinder was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York.