Voting Station

Alfred E. Kahn

Please vote to return to collections.

Economist

The Resume

    (October 17, 1917-December 27, 2010)
    Born in Paterson, New Jersey
    Chaired the economics department at Cornell University
    Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB; 1977-78)
    Served as President Carter's 'inflation czar' (1978-80)
    Known as the 'Father of Airline Deregulation'

Why he might be annoying:

    When he was appointed to head the CAB, he knew almost nothing about the airline business and called planes 'marginal costs with wings.'
    Deregulation resulted in numerous bankruptcies and mergers among airlines.
    He was not very effective as inflation czar, considering that inflation was in double digits when he left the post.
    He was rebuked by Carter's chief domestic policy adviser after he decided 'recession' was too euphemistic and warned of a 'serious depression' if inflation was not controlled.
    In response, he began referring in public to a potential economic downturn as a 'banana.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He graduated high school at age 15 and graduated first in his class from New York University at age 18.
    Deregulation paved the way for discount airlines like Southwestern.
    It was estimated that reduced air fares produced consumer savings of $5-10 billion a year.
    Economist Dorothy Robyn said of his success in selling Congress and the public on deregulation, 'He has an amazing ability to talk to the average person about very complicated subjects and make it all very clear.'
    A foe of bureaucratic language, he sent CAB staffers a memo asking them to write 'as though you were talking to or communicating with real people.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 84.62% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 16 Votes: 68.75% Annoying