Emmanuel Farhi (8 September 1978 – 23 July 2020) was a French economist who served as the Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics at Harvard University from 2018 till his death in 2020.[2][3] A specialist in macroeconomics, taxation and finance, he also served on the Conseil d’Analyse Économique from 2010 to 2010.[4][5] On July 23, 2020, aged 41, Farhi committed suicide.[6]
Emmanuel Farhi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 September 1978 |
| Died | 23 July 2020 (aged 41) |
| Academic career | |
| Field | Macroeconomics Finance Mathematical economics |
| Institution | Harvard University (2006–2020) Toulouse School of Economics |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) Corps des Mines École Normale Supérieure (MSc, agrégation) |
| Doctoral advisor | Ricardo J. Caballero[1] Iván Werning[1] |
| Information at IDEAS / RePEc | |
Education
editEmmanuel Farhi was born in Paris in 1978, the son of André Farhi, a development economist of Egyptian Jewish descent, and Danièle Debordeaux, a specialist in social policy.[7] He attended the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where, in 1995, he won the concours général in physics, and completed his classes préparatoires in mathematics.[8] In 1997, he ranked first on the national competitive exam for entry to the École Polytechnique.[9] He chose instead to attend the École Normale Supérieure, where he specialised in mathematics and received his agrégation in 1999, ranking second.[8][10] At the ENS, he served as an assistant to Fields Medalist Cédric Villani, and received a Master of Science degree in mathematics and economics in 2001.[7] He was then admitted to the Corps des Mines, and completed its programme in government and business in 2005.[8] He received a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006, where he was advised by Ricardo J. Caballero and Iván Werning.[7]
Career
editIn 2006, Farhi was appointed an assistant professor at Harvard University, where he became a tenured full professor in 2010, and the Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics in 2018.[11][7][8] One of the leading economists of his generation in both the US and France, Farhi’s research focused on macroeconomics and finance, particularly on financial stability and the process of reforming the international monetary system. He served on the Conseil d’Analyse Économique from 2010 to 2012, under Prime Minister François Fillon.[8] He received the Bernácer Prize in 2009, and the Prix du meilleure jeune économiste de France in 2013.[7]
He became a research associate at the NBER in 2006, and was elected a Fellow of the Econometric Society in 2015.[8]
Though highly quantitative, his work shed light on practical issues such as macroprudential regulation, mitigating the impacts of economic crises, and understanding the implications of fiscal policies. For example, he assessed the controversial Social VAT,[12] a measure introduced by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and repealed by his successor François Hollande only to reemerge under a different form: the "Competitiveness Pact". Farhi’s work cast a spotlight on a range of issues, including monetary economics, public finance, international economics, global imbalances, fiscal policy, and taxation. He also focused on issues like mitigating the impacts of economic crises and macroprudential regulation, a system used to describe the laws, rules, and conditions for banks and financial organizations that are meant to protect the whole financial system from risk.[13]
In September 2014, the IMF published a list of 25 “economists under 45 [who] will have the most influence in the coming decades on our understanding of the global economy”. Farhi was one of the 7 French economists listed for his work on "monetary economics, international economics, finance and public finance, including research on global imbalances, monetary and fiscal policy, and taxation."[14]
Farhi frequently co-authored academic papers with Iván Werning,[15] David Baqaee, Xavier Gabaix, and Jean Tirole.
Selected publications
editFarhi authored and published many academic articles and a book.
- Reforming the International Monetary System[16]
- « Speculative Growth: Hints from the US Economy » (en coll.), American Economic Review, vol. 96, n° 4, September 2006.
- « Saving and Investing for Early Retirement: A Theoretical Analysis » (en coll.), Journal of Financial Economics, vol. 83, n° 1, 2007.
- « An Equilibrium Model of Global Imbalances and Low Interest Rates » (en coll.), American Economic Review, 2008.
- « A Theory of Liquidity and Regulation of Financial Intermediation » (en coll.), Review of Economic Studies, 2009.
- « Progressive Estate Taxation » (en coll.), Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2010.
- « Nonlinear Capital Taxation without Commitment » (with Christopher Sleet, Iván Werning, and Sevin Yeltekin) Review of Economic Studies, October 2012, 79, no. 4: 1469–1493.
References
edit- ^ a b Farhi, Emmanuel (2006). Three essays in macroeconomics (PDF) (Ph.D.). MIT. Retrieved 20 Jun 2017.
- ^ "A Brief Biography". scholar.harvard.edu.
- ^ "Leading Harvard economist Emmanuel Farhi dies at 41". Harvard.edu. 27 July 2020.
- ^ Tirole, Jean (2021). "Emmanuel Farhi, Economist Par Excellence". Annual Review of Economics. 13 (1): 1–17. doi:10.1146/annurev-economics-032621-030422. ISSN 1941-1383.
- ^ "Anciens membres - Accueil | Conseil d'Analyse Economique | CAE". www.cae-eco.fr.
- ^ "Emmanuel Farhi has died at the age of 41". The Economist. Vol. 436, no. 9205. July 30, 2020. p. 59. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
- ^ a b c d e gazetteterrymurphy (2022-05-05). "Emmanuel Farhi, 41". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
- ^ a b c d e f https://scholar.harvard.edu/sites/scholar.harvard.edu/files/farhi/files/cv_farhi.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Arrêté du 25 septembre 1997 portant nomination des élèves admis en 1997 à l'Ecole polytechnique | Legifrance".
- ^ [1], Former adviser to French prime minister known for his brilliance and kindness. The Harvard Gazette.
- ^ "Economics Professor Emmanuel Farhi Awarded Tenure | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com.
- ^ "Pour une dévaluation fiscale". Le Monde.fr. 24 October 2012.
- ^ Former adviser to French prime minister known for his brilliance and kindness.
- ^ "Generation Next -- Finance & Development, September 2014". www.imf.org.
- ^ "International bright young things". The Economist.
- ^ "Reforming the International Monetary System | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal". voxeu.org.
External links
edit- Harvard Bio page
- Harvard Crimson Tenure Article in 2010
- Farhi's comments on Social VAT posted on Greg Mankiw's blog in July 2007.
- Econ Focus interview, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Second/Third Quarter 2019