home > the cfr think tank > experts > amity shlaes
Senior Fellow for Economic History
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-212-434-9500
E-mail: ashlaes@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
High-resolution photo (JPG, 678K)
One-page bio (PDF, 54K)
Author of the bestselling The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression. Adjunct associate professor at New York University's Stern School of Business and syndicated columnist for Bloomberg. Current work includes a development of a new history of the 1960s.
Expertise:Germany; Russia; history; economics; U.S. tax policy; relative competitiveness.
Experience:Syndicated Columnist, Bloomberg, Financial Times (2000-2009); Commentator, Marketplace Radio (2005-present); Contributing Editor, The American (2006); Editorial Board Member, Wall Street Journal (1994-2000); Editorial Features Editor, Wall Street Journal (1992-94); Deputy Editorial Features Editor, Wall Street Journal (1990-92); Editorial Features Editor, Wall Street Journal/Europe (1986-90); contributed over the years to Fortune, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Commentary Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Reader’s Digest, Spectator of London, Suddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, National Review, New Republic, Tax Notes, New Yorker, review of the American Academy in Berlin, and Foreign Affairs; appeared on numerous television and radio shows, including NPR’s Morning Edition and On Point, in addition to Marketplace.
Languages:German, French.
Honors:American Institute in Contemporary German Studies (trustee); Jurist for fellows selection, American Academy of Berlin; Frederic Bastiat Prize (for writing on political economy, 2002); J.P. Morgan Fellow of Economics and Finance, American Academy in Berlin; Bradley lecturer, American Enterprise Institute; Finalist for the Loeb (prize in economic commentary).
Selected Publications:Turning Intellect to Influence (coauthor, Reed Press, 2004); “Fluch der Rohstoffe,” Die Zeit (August 2003); “Lulling the Taxpayer: The Long-Standing Consequences of Devices Such as Withholding,” The Future of American Taxation: Essays Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Tax Notes (Tax Analysts, 2002); The Greedy Hand: How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It (Random House, 1999); “Give It Back,” Hoover Digest No. 4 (1999); “Germany’s Chained Economy,” Foreign Affairs (September/October 1994); Germany: The Empire Within (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1991).
Related Links:
New York Times bestseller list: The Forgotten Man
Podcast: Oil May Not Grease Friendship (Yale Global Online; April 12, 2008)
Current Research Project
Past Research Project
November 10, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg.com
World War II was the era of John Maynard Keynes and the 1990s were the era of Milton Friedman. But Amity Shlaes says that because of the effort to pass the health-care bill, the next few years belong to Hayek.
See more in Geoeconomics
November 3, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg
Amity Shlaes says that the Israeli military has played a surprising role in Israel's record of innovation.
See more in Economics
October 27, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg
Amity Shlaes discusses the factors that contribute to alumni donations.
See more in Economics
October 20, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg
Amity Shlaes argues that senior entitlements preclude U.S. fiscal reform, starting with Social Security.
See more in Economics
October 13, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg
Both parties seem to agree that the way to get Americans back to work is to create the right incentives. But Amity Shlaes argues that there may be too much "nudging" going on. Perhaps having too many "choice architects" is making the recovery unsatisfying.
See more in Geoeconomics, Labor
September 29, 2009
Op-Ed
Amity Shlaes says that Barney Frank's ideas to make the mortgage market "safe" will yield more primitive and fewer mortgages which won't entirely capture buyer potential.
See more in International Finance
September 21, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg
Amity Shlaes writes that "to recall Kristol isn't to recall decline, but rather to remind that neoconservatism, or something like it, actually has a vibrant future."
September 15, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg
Amity Shlaes warns that without the right incentives, market players will continue to game the system in the very fashion that President Obama deplored in his speech on reforming financial regulation.
See more in United States, International Finance
August 25, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg
Amity Shlaes comments on efforts to reduce the pay gap between men and women.
See more in United States, Economics
August 13, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Amity Shlaes examines the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act.
See more in United States, Economics
August 11, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg
Amity Shlaes argues that both Democrats and Republicans are guilty of hypocrisy when discussing end-of-life care in the health care debate.
See more in United States, Economics, Health, Science, and Technology, Global Health
July 28, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg
Amity Shlaes argues that the Federal Reserve is a "monarchy" with power to intervene in the world economy.
See more in United States, Economics, Financial Crises
July 9, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg
Amity Shlaes compares today's economic policy with that of the 1980s.
See more in United States, Economics, Financial Crises
July 6, 2009
Op-Ed
Time Magazine
Amity Shlaes argues, "FDR's tenacity did not suffice to get the economy back to where it had been before the Great Depression began."
See more in United States, Economics, U.S. Strategy and Politics, Presidency
June 23, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg.com
Amity Shlaes considers the elimination of the job of U.S trade representative.
See more in United States, Trade
June 9, 2009
Op-Ed
Amity Shlaes argues, "Europe's stunning fiscal outlays permitted it to pursue tighter monetary policy, while the U.S. used monetary policy as a substitute for European-scale fiscal spending."
See more in Europe/Russia, Germany, International Finance
May 8, 2009
Op-Ed
Forbes Online
Amity Shlaes discusses Wendell Willkie's criticisms of New Deal policies.
See more in United States, Economics, Financial Crises
April 21, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg.com
Amity Shlaes argues that the new Financial Trust Index offers cause for optimism.
See more in United States, Economics, U.S. Strategy and Politics
April 7, 2009
Op-Ed
Bloomberg.com
Amity Shlaes argues that Washington's rejection of Las Vegas is misguided.
See more in Economics, Financial Crises, U.S. Strategy and Politics
March 30, 2009, New York
Transcript
The sixth session of a Council on Foreign Relations Symposium on a second look at the Great Depression and the New Deal.
See more in United States, Financial Crises
Explore the international finance regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
James M. Lindsay
Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
jlindsay@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
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