Robert J. Barro may be America's first modern "superstar" economist. In 1998, he was lured away from Harvard to Columbia University for $300,000 a year -- an unprecedented salary for a self-described libertarian economics professor. But the lavish salary isn't so surprising; in an April 8, 1998 article, The New York Times noted that Barro was "one of the nation's most distinguished economists," and had "changed the way economists think about everything from the long-run effects of government deficits to the forces that favor economic growth."

A pro-government Keynesian when he began his career, Barro started moving in a libertarian direction in the mid-1970s with a pair of groundbreaking academic papers on bond-financed deficits and money supply growth. He has also written on fiscal policy, "optimal taxation," inflation, and economic growth. According to the New School University's History of Economic Thought, "A whole generation of economists have climbed over each other tortuously examining, assailing, and verifying the validity and implications of Barro's" work.

In his 1996 book, Getting it Right: Markets and Choices in a Free Society, Barro offered perhaps the most comprehensive look at his philosophy. The book, he said, would delineate "the appropriate range of functions of government" and determine "which areas represent useful public policy and which unnecessary interference." Barro started with a libertarian premise: "I believe that government has some key functions, notably to define and protect property rights. This heading encompasses national and domestic security and the enactment and enforcement of a system of laws and contracts."

From that postulate, he went on to list a public policy agenda that most libertarians would embrace. He proposed eliminating the National Endowment of the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; repealing the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Civil Rights Act, affirmative-action programs, the Family Leave Act, and the Endangered Species Act; introducing school choice and a flat-rate income tax; and privatizing the Social Security system. (On the other hand, libertarians might disagree with some of his conclusions -- such as that the government should ensure "a baseline level of education" and provide "a minimal welfare net" -- on the grounds that the free market and private charity would do a better job.)

Other books by Barro include Black Monday and the Future of Financial Markets (1991), Macroeconomics, 5th Edition (1997), Nothing is Sacred: Economic Ideas for the New Millennium (2003), and Economic Growth, 2nd Edition with Xavier Sala-i-Martin (2003). He has also written for The Wall Street Journal and is a columnist on economic issues for Business Week.

-- Bill Winter

Quotable

"[The word 'conservative'] suggests maintenance of the status quo, even when that might involve an array of unfortunate rules and overly activist government programs. It could also encompass forms of social conservatism that I find unattractive -- for example, restrictions on abortion rights, enforcement of strict drug laws, curbs on immigration, and restraints on international trade. I much prefer the words 'libertarian' and 'classical liberal.' " -- Robert J. Barro in Business Week (September 4, 2000)

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