Steve Hanke

Steve H. Hanke
Hanke in 2017
Born (1942-12-29) December 29, 1942
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Colorado Boulder
InfluencesFriedrich Hayek
Milton Friedman
Robert Mundell
Kenneth Boulding
Peter Thomas Bauer
Ronald Coase
Academic work
DisciplineMonetary economics
Natural resource economics
Financial economics
International economics
School or traditionFree-market economics
InstitutionsColorado School of Mines
University of California, Berkeley
Johns Hopkins University
Notable ideasCurrency board research
Dollarization research
Hyperinflation research
Hanke–Henry Permanent Calendar
Privatization research
Water resources research

Steve H. Hanke (/ˈhæŋki/; born December 29, 1942) is an American economist and professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He is also a senior fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, California, and co-director of the Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise in Baltimore, Maryland.

Hanke is known for his work as a currency reformer in emerging-market countries. He was a senior economist with President Ronald Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers from 1981 to 1982, and has served as an adviser to heads of state in countries throughout Asia, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. He is also known for his work on currency boards, dollarization, hyperinflation, water pricing and demand, benefit-cost analysis, privatization, and other topics in applied economics. He has written extensively as a columnist for Forbes, The National Review, and other publications. He is also a currency and commodity trader.

Hanke has been accused of spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of his critique of the effectiveness of lockdowns, as well as the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was listed as a Russian propagandist by Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation.