Biographical note

N. Gregory Mankiw is the Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics at Harvard University. For 14 years he taught EC10 Principles, the most popular course at Harvard. Dr. Mankiw studied economics at Princeton University and MIT. He is a prolific writer and a regular participant in academic and policy debates. His research includes work on price adjustment, consumer behavior, financial markets, monetary and fiscal policy and economic growth. Dr. Mankiw's articles have appeared in academic journals such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy and Quarterly Journal of Economics. His work has also appeared in more widely accessible forums, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and Fortune. Dr. Mankiw has been a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Congressional Budget Office and a member of the ETS® test development committee for the advanced placement exam in economics. From 2003 to 2005, Dr. Mankiw served as chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. Mark P. Taylor is Dean of the John M Olin Business School at Washington University, USA, and was previously Dean of Warwick Business School at the University of Warwick, UK. He obtained his first degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University and a master’s degree in economics from London University, from where he also holds a doctorate in economics. Professor Taylor has taught economics at various universities (including Warwick, Oxford, Marseille and New York), at various levels (from principles courses to advanced graduate and MBA courses) and in various fields (including macroeconomics, microeconomics and econometrics). He worked for several years as a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund and, before that, at the Bank of England. His work has been extensively published in scholarly journals, such as the Journal of Political Economy and the Economic Journal, and he is today one of the most highly cited economists in the world in economic research. In addition, Professor Taylor has acted as an advisor to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Bank of England, the European Commission and to senior members of the UK government. He is a research fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, a member of council of the Royal Economic Society and a fellow of both the Royal Statistical Society and the Royal Society of Arts.