George Kaufman: Both Hands In; Scholar’s Work with Academia and Financial Industry Benefitted Both

Abstract

This paper examines the career of economist Prof. George Kaufman, whose work combined and benefited both academia and the financial industry, helping both better understand the problems of financial stability, financial regulation, and financial sector competition. In doing so, he brought together great minds from both fields and helped many economists progress in their careers. Prof. Kaufman promulgated the idea that government policy needed to foster two simple goals: proper incentives and competitive markets. He believed the combination would produce a richer society and more stable economy. He created the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Conference on Bank Structure and Competition, the leading conference in the world addressing financial regulatory issues for 50 years. Prof. Kaufman also founded the U.S. Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee in 1986 in the midst of the thrift crisis, helping to solve that crisis and inspiring the creation of other shadow financial regulatory committees around the world. Through his activities, he left behind an outstanding legacy of leadership, research, and opinion in various economic fields, providing platforms upon which many scholars will build in the coming decades.