Celebrating famous Jews from Ukraine: Arthur Burns

The current US recession officially began in February 2020 and lasted only 2 months. Macroeconomic indicators made it possible to record the end of the recession already in April, which was announced by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Despite its status as a private, non-profit organization, the NBER has been considered the body that officially announces the beginning and end of the recession in the United States for several decades.

The NBER owes its right to record economic cycles to the native of Ivano-Frankivsk Arthur Burns and his mentor Wesley Mitchell, who together published the study “Measuring Business Cycles” in 1946. Their work has put an end to blind eyeing of ups and downs in the economy, and since then, the NBER’s conclusions on fluctuations in economic activity have not been questioned by anyone.

Arthur Burns’ contribution to the development of the US economy has not been limited to the development of methods of measuring economic cycles. He served as economic advisor to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Heading the US Federal Reserve System from 1970 to 1978, he was able to curb the approaching 12% inflation caused by a series of oil crises and the Vietnam War.

—

Join me, Boris Lozhkin, on Twitter @lozhkin_boris for news and commentary on Judaism in Ukraine and around the world. Follow me on Facebook for updates on the work of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine.

Find out more about my work at borislozhkin.org