Heller, Walter

Heller, Walter,

1915–87, American economist, b. Buffalo, N.Y., grad. Oberlin College (A.B., 1935), Univ. of Wisconsin (M.A. 1938, Ph.D. 1941). He worked for the U.S. Treasury before joining the Univ. of Minnesota faculty in 1946 as a professor of economics. After service as a consultant to the United Nations (1952–60) and to the state of Minnesota (1955–60), he was chairman (1961–64) of the Council of Economic Advisers under President John F. KennedyKennedy, John Fitzgerald,
1917–63, 35th President of the United States (1961–63), b. Brookline, Mass.; son of Joseph P. Kennedy. Early Life

While an undergraduate at Harvard (1936–40) he served briefly in London as secretary to his father, who was
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. He left the council in 1964 but continued to serve as a consultant to President Lyndon B. JohnsonJohnson, Lyndon Baines,
1908–73, 36th President of the United States (1963–69), b. near Stonewall, Tex. Early Life

Born into a farm family, he graduated (1930) from Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Southwest Texas State Univ.), in San Marcos.
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 until 1969. Heller advocated deficit spending to spur economic growth, and federal revenue sharing with the states. Heller became a Regent's Professor at the Univ. of Minnesota in 1967; he retired in 1986. His writings include Monetary vs. Fiscal Policy (1969; with Milton FriedmanFriedman, Milton
, 1912–2006, American economist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Columbia, 1946. Friedman was influential in helping to revive the monetarist school of economic thought (see monetarism).
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) and The Economy (1976).