
Lester Carl Thurow (May 7, 1938 – March 25, 2016) was an Americanpolitical economist, former dean of theMIT Sloan School of Management, and author of books oneconomic topics.
Born inLivingston, Montana, Thurow received hisB.A. inpolitical economy fromWilliams College in 1960, where he was inTheta Delta Chi andPhi Beta Kappa as a junior, and a Tyng Scholar. After he was awarded aRhodes Scholarship, he went toBalliol College,Oxford to readPhilosophy, Politics and Economics, graduating in 1962 with first class honors. He received a Ph.D. inEconomics fromHarvard University in 1964.[1]
Thurow was on theboard of directors ofAnalog Devices,Grupo Casa Autrey,E-Trade, andTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC). Thurow was one of the founders of theEconomic Policy Institute in 1986. Thurow was an economicscolumnist for, among others, theBoston Globe andUSA Today. He was an economics columnist for and on the editorial board of theNew York Times, and was a contributing editor toNewsweek, where he earned the 1982Gerald Loeb Award for Columns/Editorials.[2]
Thurow was a longtime advocate of a political and economic system of the Japanese and European type, in which governmental involvement in the direction of the economy is far more extensive than is the case in theUnited States – a model that has come to be known as "Third Way" philosophy. Thurow supported a more universal patent system as a requirement for a knowledge-based economy, where governments would assess the value of infringements of intellectual property against their companies by competitors in foreign jurisdictions and allow these companies to match that.[1][3]
Thurow died at the age of 77 on March 25, 2016.[4][5]
His 1993 book,Head to Head: The Coming Economic Battle Among Japan, Europe and America[6] compares economic growth and living standards in Japan, Europe, and the U.S.His other books include: