Henry Aaron ’58

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“An expert's expert” is the compliment bestowed on Henry Aaron. His contributions to the development of sound public policy in the United States have been impressive in number, quality and impact. He is the director of the Economic Studies Program, the Brookings Institution, vice president of the American Economic Association and has written on welfare policy, social security, welfare reform and health care financing.

Aaron has contributed as an educator of the public and adviser to policymakers. His opinion and editorial pieces in newspapers, speeches and testimonies before Congressional committees command attention with their clarity and vision. The range of his expertise and influence is unmatched among his peers. On a given day one might find Aaron testifying before a Congressional committee on health care, retirement issues, housing or budget policy.

Henry Aaron has served as assistant secretary in charge of policy development at the former Department of Health Education and Welfare, as chair of the advisory council on social security and vice president of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He is one of the few economists who can move easily between the academic and government worlds. He is an expert on how our policies, particularly our social service expenditures and our tax system, come together to affect our economic behavior, often with unintended consequences. He has the ability to focus on these systems, making it possible for others to better evaluate and improve them. His work infuses altruism into those who enact our laws as well as those who live by our laws. He has enlightened people, brought them together and added to our society in the most positive way.