Arthur B. Laffer is the founder and chairman of Laffer Associates, an institutional economic research and consulting firm which focuses on the interconnecting macroeconomic, political and demographic changes affecting global financial markets. The firm provides research and investment management services to a diverse group of clients, which includes institutions, pension funds, corporations, endowments, foundations, individuals and others.
Dr. Laffer’s economic acumen and influence in triggering a world-wide tax-cutting movement in the 1980s have earned him the distinction as “The Father of Supply-Side Economics”, or “Reaganomics.” One of his earliest successes in shaping public policy was his involvement in Proposition 13, the groundbreaking California initiative that drastically cut property taxes in the state in 1978.
Dr. Laffer is best known for the "Laffer Curve" which was made famous while he was a member of President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board for both of his two terms (1981-1989). He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Reagan/Bush Finance Committee in 1984. He also advised Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on fiscal policy in the U.K. during the 1980s.
During the years 1972 to 1977, Dr. Laffer was a consultant to Secretary of the Treasury William Simon, Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, and Secretary of the Treasury George Shultz. He was the first to hold the title of Chief Economist at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Mr. Shultz from October 1970 to July 1972.
Dr. Laffer has been widely acknowledged for his economic achievements. He was noted in Time Magazine’s March 29, 1999, cover story “The Century’s Greatest Minds” for inventing the Laffer Curve, which it deemed one of “a few of the advances that powered this extraordinary century”. His creation of the Laffer Curve was deemed a “memorable event” in financial history by the Institutional Investor in its July 1992 Silver Anniversary issue.
Dr. Laffer was a professor of economics at Pepperdine, University of Southern California and University of Chicago.
Dr. Laffer received a B.A. in economics from Yale University in 1963. He received a MBA and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 1965 and 1972 respectively.
Oliver "Crom" Carmichael founded Carmichael Inc., a private equity firm which has invested in many early stage companies. Over the last 10 years he has funded and participated in the founding of over a dozen companies in a variety of high tech industries. Mr. Carmichael takes an active role in all of his firm's investments and draws upon considerable knowledge garnered through existing investments, extensive contacts, and founding and selling two businesses prior to starting his private equity firm.
Mr. Carmichael is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Nashai Biotech as well as serving on the Board of Directors for several companies. He started his career at First American Bank after graduating from Vanderbilt University in 1971. Mr. Carmichael has served on the Board of the Nashville Capital Network; a collaborative initiative of Vanderbilt University which serves as an advocate for entrepreneurs and assists in the fundraising process by matching promising ventures with experienced and knowledgeable Nashville-based advisors and investors.