Arthur Melvin Okun

Who was Arthur Melvin Okun?

Arthur Melvin "Art" Okun was an American economist. He served as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers between 1968 and 1969. Before serving on the C.E.A., he was a professor at Yale University, and afterwards was a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

Okun is known in particular for promulgating 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% lower than its potential GDP. He is also known as the creator of the misery index.