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 landmark A 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.
