David R. Barker (born May 7, 1961) is an American author, academic, businessman, and politician, who began serving as a regent on the

Board of Regents In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern either the state university system, individual co ...

of the State of Iowa on May 1, 2019. A former economist for the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

, Barker operates a real estate and finance company and is an Iowa Republican Party official. His academic research has been covered in print and broadcast media including ''

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'', '' As It Happens'', ''

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'', ''

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'', and ''

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''. He has also written for '' U.S. News & World Report'', ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

'', ''

Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

'', and other publications.

Early life and education

David Barker is a sixth-generation Iowan. He graduated from Iowa City West High School, then received a B.A. from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

at Berkeley, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. He also attended the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

during his junior year of college.

Academic career

After completing graduate school Barker worked as an economist at the

Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the New York (state), State of New York, the 12 norther ...

, helping to develop an early warning system for failing banks and methods to detect racial discrimination in mortgage lending, as well as conducting analysis of the Basel Accord capital requirements. After moving back to Iowa in 1994, Barker taught real estate and corporate finance at the University of Iowa as an adjunct professor. In 1997 he began teaching real estate to MBAs at the University of Chicago, which he continued to do until 2007. Barker also taught urban economics to undergraduates at the University of Chicago for several years. He has also taught at CIMBA in Paderno del Grappa, Italy. Barker's academic research covers a variety of topics, including real estate markets, urban economics, terrorism insurance,

health economics Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to Health care efficiency, efficiency, effectiveness, value and behavior in the production and consumption of health and healthcare. Health economics is important in dete ...

, business ethics, economic history, and libertarian political economy. A 2009 paper on the effects of home ownership on children received widespread attention. It argued that previous academic work showing positive effects of home ownership on children's test scores and behavior failed in adequately controlling for factors other than home ownership and that when they are taken into account, home ownership has no economically or statistically-significant effects. A paper analyzing the economics of the 1867

Alaska Purchase The Alaska Purchase was the purchase of Russian colonization of North America, Alaska from the Russian Empire by the United States for a sum of $7.2 million in 1867 (equivalent to $ million in ). On May 15 of that year, the United St ...

by the US from Russia argued that the financial returns to the federal government, tax revenue minus administrative costs, have been lower than alternative investments with similar risk. Barker is the author of ''Welcome to Free America'', a book set in 2057 as a guide to immigrants coming to the former United States after the collapse of government. It describes a difficult period of transition, but eventually, private companies take over functions previously performed by governments, such as security, dispute resolution, production of money and infrastructure, and national defense. The result is a society that is different, in many ways, from today. Barker stated that he does not advocate the elimination of government and that his book is only an attempt to explore where libertarian ideas might lead. According to him, the result could be considered by different people to be a utopia or a dystopia.

Political activities

Barker was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in 2016. He is also a member of the State Central Committee of the Republican Party of Iowa and was appointed to the Executive Council of the Empower Rural Iowa Initiative by Governor Kim Reynolds.

Business activities

Barker's companies own over 2,000 apartments in the Midwestern United States, along with office buildings, self-storage facilities, and convenience stores. Barker is also president of Barker Financial, which makes commercial loans. Barker has also constructed new apartments. In 2017 and 2018 Barker completed historic renovation projects in Marion, Iowa, Fort Madison, Iowa, and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and a $20.4 million purchase of apartments in Little Rock, Arkansas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, David R. 1961 births University of Chicago faculty Writers from Iowa City, Iowa University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Chicago alumni 21st-century American businesspeople Living people Iowa City West High School alumni