📅 A 60-year career spanning academia, government advisory, currency reform, commodity trading, and monetary scholarship. Steve Hanke has operated at the intersection of theory and practice more consistently than almost any economist of his generation.
Career Timeline
⚠️ In 60 years of active economics, Hanke has never taken a fee from a foreign government. All advisory work abroad has been conducted pro bono.
🏆 Hanke has stopped more hyperinflations than any living economist.
Key Statistics
Metric | Figure |
Hyperinflations stopped | More than any living economist |
Countries formally advised | 15+ |
Documented hyperinflation episodes | 62 (Hanke-Krus Table) |
Years at Johns Hopkins | 55+ |
Honorary doctorates | 8+ |
Books authored or edited | 20+ |
Reagan CEA service | 1981–1982 |
Peak inflation stopped (Bulgaria) | 242% per month |
Full Career Timeline
Year | Period | Role / Event | Institution | Key Achievement |
1942 | Birth | Born December 29 | Macon, Georgia | — |
1956 | Teenage | Opens first trading account (age 14) | Chicago Mercantile Exchange | Speculates in soybean futures; helps grandfather hedge egg shipments |
1960 | Education | Enrolls, University of Colorado Boulder | CU Boulder | Member, Phi Delta Theta fraternity |
1964 | Education | B.S. in Business Administration | University of Colorado Boulder | Graduates; begins doctoral studies |
1966 | First Faculty | Instructor, Mineral & Petroleum Economics | Colorado School of Mines | First academic appointment at age 24, while still a doctoral candidate |
1969 | JHU Arrival | Assistant Professor, Water Resource Economics | Johns Hopkins University | Joins Hopkins; begins landmark water demand research |
1970 | Research | Publishes "The Demand for Water Under Dynamic Conditions" | Water Resources Research | Foundational empirical study in resource economics |
1972 | Field Research | Fieldwork, National Museums of Kenya | Nairobi, Kenya | With Richard Leakey; economics of big game reserves; early privatization work |
1973 | Promotion | Associate Professor | Johns Hopkins University | Fastest promotion to associate professor in department history |
1974 | Research | "Benefit-Cost Analysis Reconsidered" | Water Resources Research | Influential critique of public infrastructure evaluation methods |
1975 | Promotion | Full Professor | Johns Hopkins University | Youngest full professor in Whiting School history |
1976–1977 | Government | Member, Governor's Council of Economic Advisers | State of Maryland | First government advisory role |
1977 | Research | "Land Prices Substantially Underestimate the Value of Environmental Quality" | Review of Economics and Statistics | Co-authored with W.A. Niskanen; major contribution to environmental valuation |
1981–1982 | White House | Senior Economist, Council of Economic Advisers | Reagan Administration | Water portfolio; rewrote Principles and Guidelines for Water and Land Related Resources; supply-side focus |
1983 | Currency Boards | Begins currency board research program with Sir Alan Walters | Johns Hopkins University | Co-founds JHU currency board program; inspired by Hong Kong's 1983 currency board reinstatement |
1984 | Congress | Senior Adviser, Joint Economic Committee | U.S. Congress | Advised Senators Steve Symms and Paul Laxalt on monetary policy |
1987 | Publications | Edits Prospects for Privatization | Published 1987 | Contributes "Privatization" entry to New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics |
1991 | Argentina | Economic Adviser | Argentine Government | Convertibility Law implemented; ends hyperinflation; not a pure currency board but achieves stabilization |
1992 | Estonia | Currency Board Adviser | Estonian Government | Kroon replaces ruble via currency board; advises with Kurt Schuler and Lars Jonung |
1993 | Trading | Chief Economist, Friedberg Mercantile Group | Toronto | Begins long association with Friedberg; edits Commodity and Currency Comments |
1994 | Lithuania | State Counselor | Lithuanian Government | 1994–1996; currency board implementation |
1995 | Institute | Co-Founds Institute for Applied Economics | Johns Hopkins University | Co-founded with historian Louis Galambos; now a flagship applied research center |
1995 | Trading | President, Toronto Trust Argentina | Toronto | Fund delivers world's best performance among emerging market mutual funds in 1995 |
1995–1996 | Venezuela | Economic Adviser | Venezuelan Government | Currency board and stabilization recommendations |
1996–1997 | Bosnia | Special Adviser (Dayton Accords) | U.S. Government / Bosnia-Herzegovina | Currency board implementation under post-war reconstruction |
1997 | Bulgaria | Chief Adviser to President Petar Stoyanov | Bulgarian Government | Ends 242%/month hyperinflation instantly; hailed as "Father of the Bulgarian Currency Board" |
1998 | World Recognition | Named one of 25 most influential people in the world | World Trade Magazine | International recognition at peak of Asia crisis advisory role |
1998 | Indonesia | Economic Adviser to President Suharto | Indonesian Government | Advises on currency board during Asian financial crisis |
1999 | Montenegro | State Counselor | Government of Montenegro | 1999–2003; replaces hyperinflating Yugoslav dinar with Deutsche Mark |
2003 | Honorary Doctorate | First Honorary Doctorate | Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador | Begins series of 8+ honorary degrees |
2008 | Zimbabwe | Estimates Zimbabwe hyperinflation peak | Cato Institute / JHU | Peak of 7.96 × 10¹⁰% per year (November 2008); with Alex Kwok |
2012 | Scholarship | Co-authors "World Hyperinflations" | Routledge Handbook of Major Events in Economic History | With Nicholas Krus; documents 56 hyperinflation episodes |
2012 | Tools | Introduces State-Money/Bank-Money Analysis (SMBMA) | JHU / Cato | New framework for monetary analysis |
2013 | Project | Founds Troubled Currencies Project | Cato Institute | Tracks inflation in countries with dysfunctional official statistics |
2017 | Teaching | Hopkins courses recognized as "gateway to Wall Street" | Johns Hopkins University | Applied economics/finance curriculum shapes careers on Wall Street |
2020 | Knighthood | Knight of the Order of the Flag | Republic of Bulgaria | Recognized for currency board reforms and scholarly contributions to Bulgaria |
2022 | Publication | Public Debt Sustainability | Palgrave Macmillan | With B. Poulson and J. Merrifield |
2023 | Publication | Did Lockdowns Work? | Institute of Economic Affairs | With Jonas Herby and Lars Jonung; rigorous empirical assessment of COVID restrictions |
2024 | Publication | Capital, Interest, and Waiting | Palgrave Macmillan | With Leland B. Yeager; major contribution to capital theory |
2025 | Publication | Making Money Work | Wiley | With Matt Sekerke; reform agenda for the financial system |
2026 | Publication | An Interview with Steve H. Hanke on His Life and Work in Economics published | KSP Books (with M. List, K. Schuler, C. Hofmann) | A comprehensive oral history of his career |
Chapter Narratives
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Related Pages
- 🌱 Early Life & Education — The formative years before Johns Hopkins
- 🏅 Awards & Honors — Recognition accumulated over six decades
- 💱 Currency Boards — Deep dive into Hanke's signature reform tool
- 📈 Hyperinflation — The Hanke-Krus Table and global hyperinflation research
- 💵 Dollarization — Montenegro and the case for full dollarization
- 📐 Free Market Economics — The intellectual foundations