Arthur B. Laffer is the founder and chairman of Laffer Associates, an economic research and consulting firm that provides global investment-research services to institutional asset managers, pension funds, financial institutions, and corporations.
He played a significant role in triggering a worldwide tax-cutting movement in the 1980s, which earned him the sobriquet “the father of supply-side economics.” He also is the creator of the Laffer Curve, a theory that holds that that government can maximize tax revenue by setting tax rates at an optimal point.
From 1972 to 1977, Laffer served as a consultant to Secretary of the Treasury William Simon, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of the Treasury George Shultz. He was the first to hold the title of chief economist at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), from 1970 to 1972.
Laffer, who received his B.A. in economics from Yale University and an MBA and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University, is a founding member of the Congressional Policy Advisory Board, and has taught at Pepperdine University, the University of Southern California and the University of Chicago.