Jeffrey Frankel

Picture of Jeffrey Frankel

Jeffrey Frankel is James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University's Kennedy School. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He served at the US President's Council of Economic Advisers in 1983-84 and 1996-99.  As CEA Member in the Clinton Administration, Frankel's responsibilities included international economics, macroeconomics, and the environment. Before coming to Harvard in 1999, he was Professor of Economics at the University of California at Berkeley. Born in San Francisco, he graduated from Swarthmore College and received his economics PhD from MIT.  He has had visiting appointments at the Federal Reserve, IMF, and Peterson Institute for International Economics.

His research interests include commodities, crises, currencies, fiscal policy, international finance, monetary policy, regional blocs, and international environmental issues. He has been ranked among the 40 most-cited economists.  He writes a syndicated monthly commentarand a blog.  He also co-directs annually the NBER ISoM and Harvard-Columbia PEIF conferences.

Full CV; pdfProject Syndicateblog.  Twitter / X; Now at Bluesky.

Recent Publications

Commentary

"1776," in Self-Evident Truths, Carr Center for Human Rights, Harvard University, July 2026

"Americans Can't Afford Trump's Economy," Project Syndicate, May 28, 2026.

The Truth about Immigration," Project Syndicate, March 20, 2026.

Will Capping Credit Card Interest Rates Help Ordinary Americans?Project Syndicate, Feb. 16, 2026.

"America's Mad Emperor," Project Syndicate, Feb. 3, 2026.

"Why haven’t Trump’s tariffs crashed the US economy?," The Guardian, Dec. 28

"What will US debt reckoning look like?" Korea Herald, Dec. 2, 2025.

"Do Voters Try to Vote their Self Interest?" P. Syndicate, Sept. 26, 2025

"Turning Medical Science Back to 1900," Korea Herald, Aug. 28, 2025. 

"Trump's Taylor Rule," with S.Nasim, P. Syndicate, July 2025.

"Foreign Aid Looks Good, Now That It’s Gone," Project Syndicate, May 21.

"How to Forecast a Recession," P. Syndicate, April 21, 2025.

"Trump's Imaginary Victories," Korea Herald, March 6.

"Elon Musk’s $2 Trillion Fiscal Fantasy," Guardian, Nov. 21, 2024. 

"What Causes Prosperity?"  Korea Herald Oct. 24.

"Jimmy Carter's Century," Sept. 24, 2024.  Forbes.

"Finance Goes to Hollywood," Aug. 23, 2024. The Korea Herald.

 

Research

"Reserves, Sanctions and Tariffs in a Time of Uncertainty," with Menzie Chinn & Hiro Ito, NBER WP 34177, Aug. 2025.

"Estimation of Nonlinear Exchange Rate Dynamics," with Y.Hou & D.Xie, NBER WP 32664, 2024. Abstract FH&Xie2024.docx.

"The Dollar vs the Euro as International Reserve Currencies,"with M.Chinn & H.Ito, 2024, Journal of International Money and Finance,146.  Publ. Abstract 2024.docx

"Dollar Rivals," 2024. In: Fifty Years of Floating (PIIE: Washington DC). Publ. Version, piierivalspub2024-.docx.

Featured

"Trump, Tariffs & Trade," London International Macro Conference," LSE, May 2026.

"Outlook for the world economy as oil shock hits," Policy Dialogue, Harvard Indonesian Students’ Association,
April 13, 2026

Meeting of PEIF, Columbia University, March 7, 2026. 

“The Future of Dollar Hegemony,” Trans-Pacific Dialogue, Washington, DC, Feb. 21. 2026

"The International Monetary and Financial System,"  SEACEN Policy Summit, Kuala Lumpur, Feb.5, 2026: 

CCMR Staff Report: The Benefits to the United States of the Dollar as the Dominant International Currency, Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, Nov.2025.

"Taking a Sledge Hammer to the Dollar," Network 2020.  "Is This the End of the US Dollar’s Exorbitant Privilege?AEI, Sept.12, 2025, slides. 

"Geopolitical rifts:  The International Role of the USD and EUR," SUERF-BAFFI, European Money and Finance Forum, June 16, slides.

“Trump’s tariffs: Taking a sledgehammer to US global leadership,” Boston Committee on Foreign Relations,” May 13, 2025. Slides

"Beyond the Chain Saw: Deregulation in Argentina", Federico Sturzenegger, HKS Forum, video, April 30, 2025.

"Who needs a Committee? Isn’t a recession simply two quarters of negative growth?" Macro Policy Seminar, Harvard Econ. Dept., Feb.14, 2023.