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Lauded global economist Charles Plosser has died.
Plosser, former dean of the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School, passed away at the Warner Community Hospice in Amelia Island, Fla. last month at the age of 76.
An Alabama native, Plosser came to Rochester from Stanford University, where he began his academic career. At UR, Plosser served as the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics and Public Policy and as dean of the Simon Business School, then known as the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration.
Plosser left UR to become president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, a position he held until his retirement in 2015. He led the organization through a global financial crisis and the Great Recession. The Philadelphia Fed in a statement said Plosser would be remembered for his dedication to public service and stewardship of the nation’s economy, crediting his leadership.
“With his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), (he) helped shape the actions the Fed took to stabilize the financial system and promote economic recovery,” the statement reads. “Charles was also an advocate of the Federal Reserve adopting an explicit inflation target, which the FOMC did in January 2012.”
Plosser’s research influenced many economists. He was best known for his understanding of macroeconomics, and in particular, the impact of real business cycles on economic growth. In 2018, a special gathering at UR focused on Plosser. It was the 91st meeting of the Carnegie-Rochester-NYU Conference on Public Policy,
At the time, Plosser said he had no idea his research papers would be so influential.
“The way you do research is you find interesting questions and try to stimulate others to think further about problems,” he said. “And some of my papers were certainly successful at doing that, which is very pleasing.”
Plosser also had an interest in monetary policy. He believed in a systematic approach to monetary policy, or conducting policy with a “rule-like” approach, to promote financial stability and better economic outcomes.
“You often hear Fed officials say that policy decisions are ‘data dependent’ and, indeed, they are,” Plosser said in a 2015 speech. “This means that future policy actions are conditional on how the economic data unfold. We may not know what the future holds or what future policy decisions will be, but we can choose to make those decisions in a systematic way based on the incoming economic data.”
As a former Rochester Business Journal reporter, I recall when Plosser came to town in his role at the Philadelphia Fed. Covering Plosser’s economic forecasts at his annual seminars was a rite of passage, and nearly every reporter in the newsroom during that era had a chance to hear what he had to say.
Plosser is survived by his wife, Janet; their three children, Matthew, Kevin and Allison; and seven grandchildren. His passing brought several reflections from various financial organizations.
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor.
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