Bio

I’m an applied economist with interests in employment, technology, competition, and economic policy in the aggregate economy and in particular markets.

I served as President of the American Economic Association for the year 2010. I presented the Ely Lecture to the Association in 2001 and served as Vice President in 2005. I’m a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Distinguished Fellow of the AEA, and fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society, and the Society of Labor Economists.

Along with my Hoover Institution colleague Alvin Rabushka, I developed a framework for equitable and efficient consumption taxation. Our article in the Wall Street Journal in December 1981 was the starting point for an upsurge of interest in consumption taxation. Our book, The Flat Tax (free download from the Hoover Institution Press) spells out the proposal. We were recognized in Money magazine’s Hall of Fame for our contributions to financial innovation.

Marc Lieberman and I have a college textbook, Economics: Principles and Applications, now in its sixth edition.

I also served as director of the research program on economic fluctuations and growth of the National Bureau of Economic Research from 1977 through 2013. I continue to serve as chairman of the Bureau's Committee on Business Cycle Dating, which maintains the semiofficial chronology of the U.S. business cycle.

I have advised a number of government agencies on national economic policy, including the Justice Department, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Congressional Budget Office, where I serve on the Advisory Committee. I served on the National Presidential Advisory Committee on Productivity. I have testified on numerous occasions before congressional committees concerning national economic policy.

Before coming to Stanford’s Hoover Institution and the Department of Economics in 1978, I taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the University of California, Berkeley. I was born in Palo Alto, attended school there and in Los Angeles, received my B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and my Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In a 1976 paper, I introduced the distinction between fresh-water and salt-water economists. Bloggers using these terms are asked to contribute $1 to a fund that sends graduate students to MIT for one year and to the University of Minnesota for a second year.

I am married to economist Susan Woodward, chairman of Sand Hill Econometrics, and live in Menlo Park, California. Visit our blog for pictures and information about our visits to places with villages, ruins, and good food.

Academic Appointments

Administrative Appointments

  • Distinguished Fellow, American Economic Association (2011 - Present)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Member, National Academy of Sciences (2004)
  • President, American Economic Association (2010 - 2010)
  • Vice President, American Economic Association (2005 - 2005)
  • Ely Lecturer, American Economic Association (2001 - 2001)
  • Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1985 - Present)
  • Fellow, Econometric Society (1973 - Present)
  • Chair, Business Cycle Chronology Committee, National Bureau of Economic Research (1977)
  • Director, Research Program on Economic Fluctuations and Growth, National Bureau of Economic Research (1977 - 2013)
  • Member, Advisory Committee, Congressional Budget Office (1993)
  • Member, Oversight Panel for Economics, National Science Foundation (1989 - 1989)
  • Member, Advisory Panel for Economics (1970 - 1972)

Professional Education

  • PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Economics
  • BA, University of California, Berkeley, Economics

Links

2024-25 Courses

All Publications

  • Short-Run and Long-Run Effects of Milton Friedman's Presidential Address JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES Hall, R. E., Sargent, T. J. 2018; 32 (1): 121–34

    View details for DOI 10.1257/jep.32.1.121

    View details for Web of Science ID 000423686400006

  • Wage Dispersion and Search Behavior: The Importance of Nonwage Job Values JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY Hall, R. E., Mueller, A. I. 2018; 126 (4): 1594–1637

    View details for DOI 10.1086/697739

    View details for Web of Science ID 000440681600007

  • Measuring Job-Finding Rates and Matching Efficiency with Heterogeneous Job-Seekers AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MACROECONOMICS Hall, R. E., Schulhofer-Wohl, S. 2018; 10 (1): 1–32

    View details for DOI 10.1257/mac.20170061

    View details for Web of Science ID 000419330900001

  • High Discounts and High Unemployment AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Hall, R. E. 2017; 107 (2): 305-330

    View details for DOI 10.1257/aer.20141297

    View details for Web of Science ID 000393993600001

  • The Anatomy of Stagnation in a Modern Economy ECONOMICA Hall, R. E. 2017; 84 (333): 1-15

    View details for DOI 10.1111/ecca.12210

    View details for Web of Science ID 000396373300001

  • Search-and-matching analysis of high unemployment caused by the zero lower bound REVIEW OF ECONOMIC DYNAMICS Hall, R. E. 2016; 19: 210-217

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.red.2015.12.003

    View details for Web of Science ID 000371370800011

  • Fiscal Stability of High- Debt Nations under Volatile Economic Conditions GERMAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Hall, R. E. 2014; 15 (1): 4-22

    View details for DOI 10.1111/geer.12025

    View details for Web of Science ID 000331131600002

  • Quantifying the Lasting Harm to the US Economy from the Financial Crisis NBER MACROECONOMICS ANNUAL Hall, R. E. 2014; 29 (1): 71-128

    View details for DOI 10.1086/680584

    View details for Web of Science ID 000363786400006

  • Financial Frictions INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CENTRAL BANKING Hall, R. E. 2013; 9 (2): 155-163

    View details for Web of Science ID 000328547300009

  • Fiscal Stability of High-Debt Nations under Volatile Economic Conditions German Economic Review Hall, R. E. 2013; 15 (1): 4–22
  • Diagnosing Consumer Confusion and Sub-Optimal Shopping Effort: Theory and Mortgage-Market Evidence AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Woodward, S. E., Hall, R. E. 2012; 102 (7): 3249-3276

    View details for DOI 10.1257/aer.102.7.3249

    View details for Web of Science ID 000312093000005

  • Evidence on the Incidence of Wage Posting, Wage Bargaining, and On-the-Job Search AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MACROECONOMICS Hall, R. E., Krueger, A. B. 2012; 4 (4): 56-67

    View details for DOI 10.1257/mac.4.4.56

    View details for Web of Science ID 000309520600003

  • Economics: Principles and Applications Hall, R. E., Lieberman, M. 2012
  • The High Sensitivity of Economic Activity to Financial Frictions ECONOMIC JOURNAL Hall, R. E. 2011; 121 (552): 351-378

    View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2011.02421.x

    View details for Web of Science ID 000290540200002

  • The Long Slump AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Hall, R. E. 2011; 101 (2): 431-469

    View details for DOI 10.1257/aer.101.2.431

    View details for Web of Science ID 000289405800001

  • Reference Guide on Estimation of Economic Losses in Damages Awards Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence Hall, R. E., Allen, M., Lazear, V. 2011
  • Why Does the Economy Fall to Pieces after a Financial Crisis? JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES Hall, R. E. 2010; 24 (4): 3-20

    View details for DOI 10.1257/jep.24.4.3

    View details for Web of Science ID 000284159400001

  • Fiscal stimulus DAEDALUS Hall, R. E. 2010; 139 (4): 83-94

    View details for Web of Science ID 000283385100009

  • The Burden of the Nondiversifiable Risk of Entrepreneurship AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Hall, R. E., Woodward, S. E. 2010; 100 (3): 1163-1194

    View details for DOI 10.1257/aer.100.3.1163

    View details for Web of Science ID 000279253100018

  • Consumer Confusion in the Mortgage Market: Evidence of Less than a Perfectly Transparent and Competitive Market 122nd Annual Meeting of the American-Economics-Association Woodward, S. E., Hall, R. E. AMER ECONOMIC ASSOC. 2010: 511–15

    View details for DOI 10.1257/aer.100.2.511

    View details for Web of Science ID 000278389300099

  • Forward-Looking Decision Making: Dynamic-Programming Models Applied to Health, Risk, Employment, and Financial Stability Hall, R. E. Princeton University Press. 2010
  • By How Much Does GDP Rise If the Government Buys More Output? BROOKINGS PAPERS ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Hall, R. E. 2009: 183-249

    View details for Web of Science ID 000276644600005

  • Reconciling Cyclical Movements in the Marginal Value of Time and the Marginal Product of Labor JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY Hall, R. E. 2009; 117 (2): 281-323

    View details for Web of Science ID 000265590600004

  • The Limited Influence of Unemployment on the Wage Bargain AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Hall, R. E., Milgrom, P. R. 2008; 98 (4): 1653-1674

    View details for DOI 10.1257/aer.98.4.1653

    View details for Web of Science ID 000259978600022

  • Potential Competition, Limit Pricing, and Price Elevation from Exclusionary Conduct Issues in Competition Law and Policy Hall, R. E. 2008: 433-448
  • Lectures on antitrust economics (Book Review) JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC LITERATURE Book Review Authored by: Hall, R. E. 2007; 45 (4): 1066-1070

    View details for Web of Science ID 000252751500025

  • The value of life and the rise in health spending QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS Hall, R. E., Jones, C. I. 2007; 122 (1): 39-72

    View details for Web of Science ID 000244180000002

  • How much do we understand about the modem recession? BROOKINGS PAPERS ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Hall, R. E. 2007: 13-30

    View details for Web of Science ID 000253276000003

  • Cyclical Movements along the Labor Supply Function Labor Supply in the New Century Hall, R. E. edited by Bradbury, K., Foote, C., Triest, R. 2007: 241–264
  • The Macroeconomy and Determinants of the Earnings of Less-Skilled Workers Working and Poor: How Economic and Policy Changes Are Affecting Low-Wage Workers Hall, R. E. edited by Blank, R., Danziger, S., Schoeni, R. 2006: 89–112
  • Employment efficiency and sticky wages: Evidence from flows in the labor market REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS Hall, R. E. 2005; 87 (3): 397-407

    View details for Web of Science ID 000231001000001

  • Employment fluctuations with equilibrium wage stickiness AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Hall, R. E. 2005; 95 (1): 50-65

    View details for Web of Science ID 000228841600003

  • Macroeconomics Hall, R. E., Papell, D. W.W. Norton. 2005
  • Separating the Business Cycle from Other Economic Fluctuations Proceedings of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Symposium Hall, R. E. 2005: 133–79
  • Job Loss, Job Finding, and Unemployment in the U.S. Economy over the Past Fifty Years NBER Macroeconomics Annual Hall, R. E. 2005: 101-137
  • Measuring factor adjustment costs QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS Hall, R. E. 2004; 119 (3): 899-927

    View details for Web of Science ID 000223100200004

  • Modern theory of unemployment fluctuations: Empirics and policy applications 115th Annual Meeting of the American-Economic-Association Hall, R. E. AMER ECONOMIC ASSOC. 2003: 145–50

    View details for Web of Science ID 000183357400023

  • Digital Dealing: How eMarkets are Transforming the Economy Hall, R. E. Norton. 2002
  • The stock market and capital accumulation AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Hall, R. E. 2001; 91 (5): 1185-1202

    View details for Web of Science ID 000172772800001

  • Struggling to Understand the Stock Market AER Papers and Proceedings Hall, R. E. 2001: 1–11
  • Toward a quantification of the effects of Microsoft's conduct 112th Annual Meeting of the American-Economic-Association Hall, C. E., Hall, R. E. AMER ECONOMIC ASSOC. 2000: 188–91

    View details for Web of Science ID 000087512600038

  • Reorganization Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy Hall, R. E. 2000: 1–22
  • Why do some countries produce so much more output per worker than others? QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS Hall, R. E., Jones, C. I. 1999; 114 (1): 83-116

    View details for Web of Science ID 000079557200003

  • Labor-Market Frictions and Employment Fluctuations Handbook of Macroeconomics Hall, R. E. edited by Taylor, J., Woodford, M. 1999: 1137–1170
  • Macroeconomic fluctuations and the allocation of time JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS Hall, R. E. 1997; 15 (1): S223-S250

    View details for Web of Science ID A1997WM21700010

  • Productivity and the density of economic activity AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Ciccone, A., Hall, R. E. 1996; 86 (1): 54-70

    View details for Web of Science ID A1996UB51800003

  • The Flat Tax Hall, R. E., Rabushka, A. Hoover Press. 1995
  • LOST JOBS BROOKINGS PAPERS ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Hall, R. E. 1995: 221-256

    View details for Web of Science ID A1995RM49000006

  • THE VALUE AND PERFORMANCE OF UNITED-STATES CORPORATIONS BROOKINGS PAPERS ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Hall, B. H., Hall, R. E. 1993: 1-49

    View details for Web of Science ID A1993LR03400001

  • SUBSTITUTION OVER TIME IN CONSUMPTION AND WORK CONF ON VALUE AND CAPITAL : 50 YEARS LATER Hall, R. E. NEW YORK UNIV PRESS. 1991: 239–267

    View details for Web of Science ID A1991BS87U00017

  • Labor Demand, Labor Supply, and Employment Volatility NBER Macroeconomics Annual Hall, R. E. 1991; 7 (1): 17-46
  • Booms and Recessions in a Noisy Economy Hall, R. E. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut. 1991
  • The Rational Consumer: Theory and Evidence Hall, R. E. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1990
  • INVARIANCE PROPERTIES OF SOLOW PRODUCTIVITY RESIDUAL CONF ON GROWTH, PRODUCTIVITY AND UNEMPLOYMENT, IN HONOR OF BOB SOLOWS 65TH BIRTHDAY Hall, R. E. M I T PRESS. 1990: 71–112

    View details for Web of Science ID A1990BT40M00005

  • INTERTEMPORAL SUBSTITUTION IN CONSUMPTION JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY Hall, R. E. 1988; 96 (2): 339-357

    View details for Web of Science ID A1988M846100006

  • The Relation between Price and Marginal Cost in U.S. Industry JPE Hall, R. E. 1988; 96 (5): 921-947
  • THE EXCESS SENSITIVITY OF LAYOFFS AND QUITS TO DEMAND JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS Hall, R. E., Lazear, E. P. 1984; 2 (2): 233-257

    View details for Web of Science ID A1984SW86200004

  • OPTIMAL FIDUCIARY MONETARY SYSTEMS JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS Hall, R. E. 1983; 12 (1): 33-50

    View details for Web of Science ID A1983RD53900004

  • Low Tax, Simple Tax, Flat Tax Hall, R. E., Rabushka, A. McGraw-Hill. 1983
  • THE SENSITIVITY OF CONSUMPTION TO TRANSITORY INCOME - ESTIMATES FROM PANEL DATA ON HOUSEHOLDS ECONOMETRICA Hall, R. E., Mishkin, F. S. 1982; 50 (2): 461-481

    View details for Web of Science ID A1982NE73800008

  • THE IMPORTANCE OF LIFETIME JOBS IN THE UNITED-STATES-ECONOMY AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Hall, R. E. 1982; 72 (4): 716-724

    View details for Web of Science ID A1982PE30900007

  • Inflation: Causes and Effects edited by Hall, R. E. University of Chicago Press. 1982
  • Labor Supply and Aggregate Fluctuations Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy Hall, R. E. 1980: 7–33
  • THEORY OF THE NATURAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AND THE DURATION OF EMPLOYMENT JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS Hall, R. E. 1979; 5 (2): 153-169

    View details for Web of Science ID A1979GZ07500001

  • STOCHASTIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE LIFE CYCLE PERMANENT INCOME HYPOTHESIS - THEORY AND EVIDENCE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY Hall, R. E. 1978; 86 (6): 971-987

    View details for Web of Science ID A1978GD86300001

  • ESTIMATION AND INFERENCE IN NONLINEAR STRUCTURAL MODELS ANNALS OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL MEASUREMENT BERNDT, E. K., Hall, B. H., Hall, R. E., Hausman, J. A. 1974; 3 (4): 653-665

    View details for Web of Science ID A1974V263900005

  • Wages, Income, and Hours of Work in the U.S. Labor Force Income Maintenance and Labor Supply: Econometric Studies Hall, R. E. edited by Watts, H., Cain, G. Rand McNally. 1973: 102–162
  • SPECIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGY WITH SEVERAL KINDS OF OUTPUT JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY Hall, R. E. 1973; 81 (4): 878-892

    View details for Web of Science ID A1973Q521200003

  • Turnover in the Labor Force BPEA Hall, R. E. 1972; 3: 709-756
  • DYNAMIC EFFECTS OF FISCAL POLICY IN AN ECONOMY WITH FORESIGHT REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES Hall, R. E. 1971; 38 (114): 229-244

    View details for Web of Science ID A1971Y091700005

  • The Measurement of Quality Change from Vintage Price Data Price Indexes and Quality Change Hall, R. E. edited by Griliches, Z. Harvard University Press. 1971: 240–271
  • WHY IS UNEMPLOYMENT RATE SO HIGH AT FULL EMPLOYMENT BROOKINGS PAPERS ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Hall, R. E. 1970: 369-410

    View details for Web of Science ID A1970Y213000002

  • Technical Change and Capital from the Point of View of the Dual Review of Economic Studies Hall, R. E. 1968; 35 (101): 35-46
  • Consumption Taxes versus Income Taxes: Implications for Economic Growth Proceedings of the 61st Annual Conference on Taxation Hall, R. E. 1968: 125–145
  • TAX POLICY AND INVESTMENT BEHAVIOR AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW Hall, R. E., Jorgenson, D. W. 1967; 57 (3): 391-414

    View details for Web of Science ID 000207930400002