Stanley Fischer, a world-renowned macroeconomist and former vice chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, passed away on the 31st (local time).
Former Vice Chairman Fischer's death was reported by Bloomberg and Israeli media outlets.
Born in 1943 to a Jewish family in Zambia, Fischer earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the London School of Economics. He later obtained his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
He served as a professor at MIT, mentoring former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, former European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi, and Harvard University Professor Gregory Mankiw, among others.
A U.S. citizen, former Vice Chairman Fischer also became an Israeli citizen after serving as the Governor of the Central Bank of Israel from 2005 to 2013.
He also has connections to Korea. From 1994, he served as the Senior Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and visited Korea when it applied for a bailout during the foreign exchange crisis in 1997.
Fischer became Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve in 2014 and was considered a leading hawk within the Fed until 2017. Hawks refer to those who raise interest rates to withdraw currency from circulation and stabilize prices when the economy shows signs of overheating, contrasting with doves who advocate lowering interest rates to stimulate the economy.
Lawrence Summers, a former U.S. Treasury Secretary and a student of Fischer, noted in 2017 that 'if the world were a just place, Stan would have been the chair of the Fed or the managing director of the IMF.' Fischer sought the IMF presidency in 2011 but was hindered by age restrictions.