Alan specializes in macroeconomics, central banking, and bank regulatory issues. He has been on the Princeton faculty since 1971 and is now the Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics. In addition, Alan is vice chairman of Observatory Group LLC, an economic and political advisory firm. From January 1993 through January 1996, Alan was on leave from Princeton while serving in the U.S. government — first as a member of President Bill Clinton’s original Council of Economic Advisers and then as Federal Reserve vice chairman. During his tenure at the Fed, he represented the central bank at various international meetings and was a member of the committees on Bank Supervision and Regulation, Consumer and Community Affairs, and Derivative Instruments. A widely published author, Alan has written extensively for academic journals and is the author of a best-selling introductory economics textbook. He is a regular columnist for The Wall Street Journal and a frequent commentator on PBS, CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, and others news channels. He is a distinguished fellow and past vice president of the American Economic Association, a past president of the Eastern Economic Association, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Political and Social Science.