Jeffrey Alan "Jeff" Miron (; born January 31, 1957) is an American

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. He served as the chairman of the department of economics at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

from 1992 to 1998, and currently teaches at Harvard University, serving as a senior lecturer and director of undergraduate studies in Harvard's economics department. Miron holds the position of director of economic policy studies at the

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch ...

Early life and education

Miron was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, on January 31, 1957. He graduated ''magna cum laude'' from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in economics and mathematics in 1979, then earned his Ph.D. in economics with a specialization in

game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions. It has applications in many fields of social science, and is used extensively in economics, logic, systems science and computer science. Initially, game theory addressed ...

from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT) in 1984. Miron's doctoral dissertation, completed under economist Stanley Fischer, was titled, "The Economics of Seasonal Time Series."

Career

Miron is an outspoken

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

. He was one of the 166 economists to sign a letter to congressional leaders in opposition to the bailout plan put forth by the U.S. federal government in response to the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. He advocated that those companies that floundered during the crisis should be

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

instead of receiving government help. He has proposed three policy reforms to help the US economy recover from the

: cutting entitlements, freezing regulation, and replacing the existing tax code with a

flat tax A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progressi ...

on consumption. Miron has also spoken out against the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...

, arguing that it is economically unfeasible and will increase the US deficit; instead, he suggests limiting government intervention is the best way to lower overall health care costs and make health care accessible to the most people. He has studied the effects of drug criminalization for 15 years, and argues that all drugs should be legalized. He also supports the legalization of

sex work Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volun ...

. Miron supports open borders, arguing that the United States should impose "no immigration restrictions at all." He opposes foreign interventions because "they cost far more than initially acknowledged while failing to help either America or the target countries." Miron has been a cast member of documentaries such as The Culture High and The Union: The Business Behind Getting High.https://m.imdb.com/name/nm2673946/

Writings

* * * *

References

External links

Miron at Harvard University Department of Economics
*

– discussing the benefits of legalizing marijuana from an economic perspective (March 27, 2010). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miron, Jeffrey 1957 births Living people 20th-century American economists 21st-century American economists American libertarians Boston University faculty Cato Institute people Economists from Michigan Harvard University faculty Libertarian economists Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Academics from Detroit Swarthmore College alumni