Arthur Melvin Okun

Art Okun
7th Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
In office
February 15, 1968  January 20, 1969
PresidentLyndon Johnson
Preceded byGardner Ackley
Succeeded byPaul McCracken
Personal details
Born
Arthur Melvin Okun

(1928-11-28)November 28, 1928
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedMarch 23, 1980(1980-03-23) (aged 51)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationColumbia University (BA, MA, PhD)
Academic background
Doctoral advisorArthur F. Burns
InfluencesJohn Maynard Keynes
Academic work
DisciplineMacroeconomics
School or traditionNeo-Keynesian economics
InstitutionsYale University
Notable ideasOkun's law
Misery index

Arthur Melvin "Art" Okun (November 28, 1928 – March 23, 1980) was an American economist.

Okun is known in particular for Okun's law, an observed relationship that states that for every 1% increase in the unemployment rate, a country's GDP will be roughly an additional 2.5% lower than its potential GDP. He is also known as the creator of the misery index and the analogy of the deadweight loss of taxation with a leaky bucket.