Chairman
Cato Institute

William A. Niskanen has been chairman of the Cato Institute since 1985, following service as a member and acting chairman of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. Niskanen has served as director of economics at the Ford Motor Company, professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley and Los Angeles, assistant director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, a defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, the director of special studies in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the director of the Program Analysis division at the Institute of Defense Analysis. He has written on many public policy issues including corporate governance, defense, federal budget policy, regulation, Social Security, taxes, and trade. Niskanen's 1971 book Bureaucracy and Representative Government is considered a classic. His most recent book is After Enron: the Lessons for Public Policy. Niskanen holds a B.A. from Harvard and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. The University of Chicago recently honored him with a lifetime professional service award.

Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
E-Mail: wniskanen@cato.org

Media Appearances

William Niskanen discusses lending practices in the subprime mortgage market on CNBC. (April 11, 2007). [Real Media]

William Niskanen discusses the Federal Reserve's policies on CNBC. (January 17, 2007). [Real Media]

William Niskanen discusses monetary policy on Bloomberg TV. (June 27, 2006). [Real Media]

William Niskanen discusses Reaganomics on CNNfn. (June 7, 2004). [Real Media]

William Niskanen remembers Ronald Reagan on CNBC. (June 7, 2004). [Real Media]

[View more Media Appearances]

Books and Book Chapters

After Enron: The Major Lessons for Public Policy, editor, (2005)

Autocratic, Democratic and Optimal Government: Fiscal Choices and Economic Outcomes (2004)

Policy Analysis And Public Choice: Selected Papers By William A. Niskanen (2004)

Going Digital!: A Guide to Policy in the Digital Age (1998)

Bureaucracy and Public Economics (1996)

[View more Books and Book Chapters]

Cato Studies

"Proffer of Dr. William A. Niskanen," White Paper, November 15, 2000.

"Supply-Side Tax Cuts and the Truth about the Reagan Economic Record," by William A. Niskanen and Stephen Moore, Policy Analysis no. 261, October 22, 1996.

"Crime, Police, and Root Causes," Policy Analysis no. 218, November 14, 1994.

"How to Balance the Budget by Reducing Spending," by William A. Niskanen and Stephen Moore, Policy Analysis no. 194, April 22, 1993.

"The District of Columbia: America's Worst Government?," Policy Analysis no. 165, November 18, 1991.

[View more Cato Studies]

Commentary

"U.S. Capital Markets May Be Dangerously Overregulated," World Commerce Review, August 28, 2007

"An Alternative Political Future For the District," Examiner.com, July 5, 2007

"Forging a Broader Consensus for Withdrawal from Iraq," Cato.org, May 4, 2007

"Don't Start Another War," Sacramento Bee, February 23, 2007

"Enron's Last Victim: American Markets," The New York Times, January 3, 2007

[View more Commentary]

Podcasts

"Is the Fed Playing Favorites?," November 1, 2007 [MP3, 04:16]

 "Keep Capital Markets Free," September 25, 2007 [MP3, 08:52]

"Iran: Next Front in the 'War on Terror'?," June 12, 2007 [MP3, 04:59]

"The Fed in the Face of Crisis," November 14, 2006 [MP3, 05:01]

"Limited Government after Katrina," August 24, 2006 [MP3, 05:36]

"Is Sarbanes-Oxley a Success?," August 16, 2006 [MP3, 05:20]

Speeches  and Congressional Testimony

"An Alternative Perspective on the Endangered Species Act," April 21, 1995.

Events

"Health Savings Accounts: Not Entirely Consumer Directed (Yet)," May 24, 2007 [Policy Forum]

"The Fed's Monetary Policy Rule," October 14, 2005 [Policy Forum]

"The Eighties: America in the Age of Reagan," June 28, 2005 [Book Forum]

"After Enron: Lessons for Public Policy," June 16, 2005 [Book Forum]