Stanley Fischer ( he, סטנלי פישר; born October 15, 1943) is an Israeli American economist who served as the 20th Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017. Fisher previously served as the 8th governor of the Bank of Israel from 2005 to 2013. Born in

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodes ...

(now

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

), he holds dual citizenship in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

.Stanley Fischer firms as top choice to become US Fed vice

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, via

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...

, December 12, 2013. He previously served as First Deputy Managing Director of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster gl ...

and Chief Economist of the World Bank. On January 10, 2014, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

nominated Fischer to be Vice-Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board of Governors. He is a senior advisor at Blackrock. On September 6, 2017, Stanley Fischer announced that he was resigning as Vice-Chairman for personal reasons effective October 13, 2017, just before his 74th birthday.

Biography

Stanley (Shlomo) Fischer was born into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in Mazabuka,

(now

). When he was 13, his family moved to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally k ...

(now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

), where he became active in the Habonim Zionist youth movement. In 1960, he visited

as part of a winter program for youth leaders, and studied

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Ma'agan Michael. He had originally planned to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, but went to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to study after receiving a scholarship from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

, and obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

from 1962 to 1966. Fischer then moved to the United States to study at MIT, and earned a Ph.D. in economics in 1969 with a thesis titled ''Essays on assets and contingent commodities'' written under the supervision of Franklin M. Fisher. He became an American citizen in 1976. Fischer was married to Rhoda Fischer (née Keet), whom he met during his days in Habonim. The couple has three children. When they moved to Israel, Rhoda became honorary president of

Aleh Negev Adi Negev ( he, עַדִי נֶגֶב), formerly named Aleh Negev, is a rehabilitation village for disabled children and adults in southern Israel. Located near Ofakim and covering , it falls under the jurisdiction of Merhavim Regional Council. ...

, a rehabilitation village for the disabled. Rhoda Fischer passed away in 2020.

Academic career

In the early 1970s, Fischer worked as an associate professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. He served as a professor at the MIT Department of Economics from 1977 to 1988. In 1977, Fischer wrote the paper "Long-Term Contracts, Rational Expectations, and the Optimal Money Supply Rule" where he combined the idea of rational expectations argued by New classical economists like Robert Lucas with the idea that

price stickiness Nominal rigidity, also known as price-stickiness or wage-stickiness, is a situation in which a nominal price is resistant to change. Complete nominal rigidity occurs when a price is fixed in nominal terms for a relevant period of time. For exampl ...

still led to some degree of market shortcomings that an active monetary policy could help mitigate in times of economic downturns. The paper made Fischer a central figure in New Keynesian economics. Through this critique of new classical macroeconomics Fischer significantly contributed to clarifying the limits of the policy-ineffectiveness proposition. He authored three popular economics textbooks, ''Macroeconomics'' (with

Rüdiger Dornbusch Rüdiger Dornbusch (June 8, 1942 – July 25, 2002) was a German economist who worked in the United States for most of his career. Early life and education Dornbusch was born in Krefeld in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia. After completing his ...

and Richard Startz), ''Lectures on Macroeconomics'' (with Olivier Blanchard), and the introductory ''Economics'', with David Begg and Rüdiger Dornbusch. He was also

Ben Bernanke Ben Shalom Bernanke ( ; born December 13, 1953) is an American economist who served as the 14th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014. After leaving the Fed, he was appointed a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution. Dur ...

's, Mario Draghi's and Greg Mankiw's Ph.D. thesis advisor. In 2012, Fischer served as Humanitas Visiting Professor in Economic Thought at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

Banking career

From January 1988 to August 1990 he was Vice President, Development Economics and Chief Economist at the World Bank. He then became the First Deputy Managing Director of the

(IMF), from September 1994 until the end of August 2001. By the end of 2001, Fischer had joined the influential Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty. After leaving the IMF, he served as Vice Chairman of

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...

, President of Citigroup International, and Head of the Public Sector Client Group. Fischer was an executive at Citigroup from February 2002 to April 2005, earning millions of dollars in salary and stock.

Bank of Israel

Fischer was appointed Governor of the Bank of Israel in January 2005 by the

Israeli cabinet The Cabinet of Israel (officially: he, ממשלת ישראל ''Memshelet Yisrael'') exercises executive authority in the State of Israel. It consists of ministers who are chosen and led by the prime minister. The composition of the governmen ...

, after being recommended by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Finance Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

. He took the position on May 1, 2005, replacing David Klein, who ended his term on January 16, 2005. Fischer became an Israeli citizen but did not renounce U.S. citizenship. He had been involved in the past with the Bank of Israel, having served as an American government adviser to Israel's economic stabilization program in 1985. On May 2, 2010, Fischer was sworn in for a second term. Under his management, in 2010, the Bank of Israel was ranked first among central banks for its efficient functioning, according to IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook. Fischer has earned plaudits across the board for his handling of the Israeli economy in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. In September 2009, the Bank of Israel was the first bank in the developed world to raise its interest rates. In 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 Fischer received an "A" rating on the Central Banker Report Card published by ''Global Finance'' magazine. In June 2011, Fischer applied for the post of IMF managing director to replace

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (; born 25 April 1949), also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist ...

, but was barred as the IMF stipulates that a new managing director must be no older than 65, and he was 67 at the time. On June 30, 2013, Fischer stepped down as governor of the Bank of Israel midway through his second term, despite high popularity.

U.S. Federal Reserve

American President

nominated Fischer as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve System, the United States' central bank, in January 2014. In nominating Fischer for the position, Obama stated he brought ''decades of leadership and expertise from various roles, including serving at the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of Israel''. On May 21, 2014, the Senate confirmed Fischer's appointment to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. In a separate vote on June 12, he was confirmed as the vice chair. Fischer succeeded Janet Yellen as vice chair; Yellen became chair of the Federal Reserve earlier in 2014. Fischer resigned for personal reasons in mid-October, 2017, 8 months before the June, 2018, expiry of his term as vice chair.

Awards and recognition

Fischer received an honorary doctorate from Hebrew University in 2006. In October 2010, Fischer was declared Central Bank Governor of the Year by '' Euromoney'' magazine. He is a member of the

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now def ...

and attended its conferences in 1996, 1998 and 1999. Apparently he also attended the Bilderberg conference in 2011 in

St. Moritz St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...

, Switzerland. However, his name does not show up on the list of participants for the year 2011 as of March 2016. He is also a Distinguished Fellow in the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Fischer was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association in 2013. He is also a member of the Inter-American Dialogue.

References

External links

Profile
at 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 of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

Profile
at the Bank of Israel
Profile
at the

Profile
at ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

''
Profile
at the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

Profile
at the

Peterson Institute for International Economics The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), known until 2006 as the Institute for International Economics (IIE), is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by C. Fred Bergsten in 1981 and has been led by ...

*
List of publications, 1994–present

Publications
at the National Bureau of Economic Research
Statements and Speeches of Stanley Fischer

Column archive
at Project Syndicate * * * * * ;Articles
"Exchange Rate Regimes: Is the Bipolar View Correct?"

, Distinguished Lecture on Economics in Government, American Economic Association and the Society of Government Economists. Delivered at the Meetings of the American Economic Association, New Orleans, January 6, 2001
Stanley Fischer: The Life of an Internationally Renowned Economist

, August 13, 2004
Why so gloomy on the global economy?
''The Banker'', 4 October 2004
Citigroup's Fischer to Head Israel's Central Bank
''

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ...

'', January 9, 2005
Israel looks to US for bank chief
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', 10 January 2005
C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics: The Israeli Economy: Thriving in a Complicated Environment

, October 18, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Stanley 1943 births Living people 20th-century American economists 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American economists 21st-century American Jews Alumni of the London School of Economics American emigrants to Israel American officials of the United Nations Citigroup employees Distinguished Fellows of the American Economic Association Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the Econometric Society Governors of the Bank of Israel Group of Thirty Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics International finance economists Israeli economists Israeli Jews Israeli officials of the United Nations Macroeconomists MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty Members of the Inter-American Dialogue Naturalized citizens of Israel New Keynesian economists Peterson Institute for International Economics Rhodesian Jews Vice Chairs of the Federal Reserve World Bank Chief Economists Zambian emigrants to the United States Zambian Jews Obama administration personnel Trump administration personnel