Reflections on Allan H. Meltzer’s Contributions to Monetary Economics and Public Policy

Allan H. Meltzer (1928–2017), a leading monetary economist of the twentieth century, is memorialized in eleven essays by prominent economists. Among his achievements, Meltzer transformed the field of central banking and dissected the economic disasters of the 1930s and late 2000s, as well as the avoidance of disaster in the 1970s. Focusing on his landmarkA History of the Federal Reserve, 1913–1986, the first section argues that the Fed’s biggest successes are tied to its adherence to classical monetary theory and also examines the monetarist counterrevolution. Next, the book turns to Meltzer’s thinking on the monetary transmission mechanism and his close work with Karl Brunner on the Brunner-Meltzer Model; it argues that Meltzer’s understanding of monetary economics could be used to measure the impact of the Fed’s activities. Finally, Meltzer’s contributions to public policy are examined, including his proposed reforms to the International Monetary Fund and his activities at the Carnegie Mellon Graduate School of Industrial Administration. The conference papers that compose this volume celebrate Meltzer’s fifty-year career at Carnegie Mellon. The book ends with a transcribed interview, conducted just a few months before his death, in which he shares sharp-witted insights about economics and his legacy. Contributors: Michael Bordo, James Bullard, Joshua R. Hendrickson, Robert Hetzel, Peter N. Ireland, Robert Lucas, Edward Nelson, Gerald P. O’Driscoll Jr., Charles Plosser, George Selgin, and John Taylor.