Wendy Lee Gramm (born January 10, 1945) is an American economist who led the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during the

Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...

. She is also the wife of former United States Senator

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of United States Congress, Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Gr ...

. Gramm has gained notoriety for her role in the

Enron scandal The Enron scandal was an accounting scandal sparked by American energy company Enron, Enron Corporation filing for bankruptcy after news of widespread internal fraud became public in October 2001, which led to the dissolution of its accounting ...

Early life

Wendy Lee Gramm was born in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and is of

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n and

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

ancestry. She received a B.A. degree in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

in 1966 and a Ph.D. in economics from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 1971. In her role at the

Mercatus Center The Mercatus Center is an American libertarian, free-market-oriented non-profit think tank. The Mercatus Center is located at the George Mason University campus, but it is privately funded and its employees are independent of the university. It ...

, Gramm generally called for deregulation of the

energy industry The energy industry refers to all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including fuel extraction, manufacturing, oil refinery, refining and distribution. Modern society consumes large amounts of fuel, and the energy in ...

. For eight years, Gramm taught in the Department of Economics at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

and later served on the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

Career

Wendy Lee Gramm held several positions in the

: executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief, head of the White House Office of Management and Budget's regulatory review office, director of the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

's Bureau of Economics, head of the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA ) is a division within the Office of Management and Budget under the Executive Office of the President. OIRA oversees the implementation of government-wide policies in, and reviews draft r ...

(OIRA) from 1985 to 1988, and head of the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures contract, fut ...

from 1988 to 1993. After a lobbying campaign from

Enron Enron Corporation was an American Energy development, energy, Commodity, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both re ...

and the election of Bill Clinton, Gramm nearly lost her chair seat, but the CFTC exempted Enron from regulation in trading of energy derivatives. Six days later, she resigned from CFTC, took a seat on the Enron board of directors, and served on its audit committee. Her husband's 1996 presidential bid was cut short by a political scandal arising from his past investments in the porn industry, which led the ''New York Post'' to nickname him "Porno Gramm". While on the board of directors, she received donations from Enron to support the Mercatus Center. According to

Public Citizen Public Citizen is an American non-profit, Progressivism in the United States, progressive consumer rights advocacy group, and think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1971 by the American activist and lawyer Ralph Nader. Lobbying e ...

, Enron paid between $915,000 and $1.85 million in salary from 1993 to 2001. Enron also became the biggest donor to Phil Gramm's political actions. Just under $100,000 went to his campaigns between 1999 and 2001. In 1999, the

Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA), also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, () is an act of the 106th United States Congress (1999–2001). It repealed part of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933, removing barriers in ...

was passed, which repealed part of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933, prohibiting any institution from acting as any combination of an investment bank, a commercial bank, and an insurance company. It allowed over-the-counter trading of derivatives, which had previously been restricted to regulated exchanges. In 1998, she declared "In my view, there are no systemic problems in the OTC derivatives market”. In 1999, she sold her shares of Enron ($300,000), asserting that being a director and a shareholder of the company constituted a conflict of interest. Prior to George W. Bush's election, Phil Gramm introduced the Commodity Futures Modernization Act which deregulated the trading of derivatives. After news of the

became public in October 2001, Gramm and the other directors of the energy company were named in several investor lawsuits, many of which have been settled. In particular, Gramm and other Enron directors agreed to a $168 million settlement in a suit 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 ...

. As part of it, the directors agreed to collectively pay $13 million to settle claims of

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

. The remainder of the settlement was to be paid by insurance. After Enron, she became head of the Regulatory Studies Program of the Mercatus Center. She expressed no regrets regarding the Enron debacle, which she considered a success. On November 1, 2007, she became the chairperson of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In 2011, she appeared on a television spot with her husband, calling on Texans to shoulder the burden of the economic crisis. On October 1, 2019, she resigned as the chairman of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Gramm also served as a director of the Independent Women's Forum, a conservative women's group.Ronnee Schreiber, 'Pro-Women, Pro-Palin, Antifeminist: Conservative Women and Conservative Movement Politics', in ''Crisis of Conservatism? The Republican Party, the Conservative Movement, & American Politics After Bush'', Gillian Peele, Joel D. Aberbach (eds.), Oxford:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2011, p. 134 She has sat on the boards of

Enron Corporation Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional compa ...

, Iowa Beef Processors, Invesco Funds, Longitude, the

Chicago Mercantile Exchange The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) (often called "the Chicago Merc", or "the Merc") is an American derivatives marketplace based in Chicago and located at 20 S. Wacker Drive. The CME was founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board ...

, and State Farm Insurance Companies.

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

once described Gramm as " isfavorite economist."

Personal life

Wendy Lee Gramm met her husband when she was interviewed by him as a Ph.D. student for a position at

. Phil Gramm, a senior professor 3 years older than Wendy, expressed his interest in her after the interview. Six weeks later, she arrived on campus, and they wed. She has two sons: Jeff, who is in the indie-rock band

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

, and Marshall, a professor of economics at the Presbyterian-affiliated Rhodes College.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gramm, Wendy Lee 1945 births Living people Spouses of Texas politicians Commodity Futures Trading Commission personnel Administrators of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs American women economists Texas A&M University faculty American politicians of Korean descent American women of Korean descent in politics Enron people People from Hawaii Wellesley College alumni Northwestern University alumni Reagan administration personnel Texas A&M University System regents American corporate directors American women business executives Hawaii Republicans Texas Republicans Economists from Texas 21st-century American economists George H. W. Bush administration personnel Clinton administration personnel 21st-century American women Texas Public Policy Foundation people