Sherman J. Maisel

Sherman Joseph Maisel
Born	(1918-07-08) 8 July 1918 Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Died	29 September 2010(2010-09-29) (aged 92) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Economist, academic
Years active	1939–1986
Known for	Governor of the Federal Reserve Board (1965–1972); research on mortgage policy; presidency of the American Finance Association (1973)

Sherman Joseph Maisel (July 8, 1918 – September 29, 2010) was a distinguished American economist who served as a Governor of the Federal Reserve Board from 1965 through 1972. His influential studies on mortgage policy played a key role in broadening the functions of Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae, thereby facilitating greater access to home loans.

Life and career

Maisel was born in Buffalo, New York and completed his undergraduate studies in economics at Harvard University in 1939. Early in his career, he worked as a research economist for the Federal Reserve Board before joining the United States Army as a Captain during World War II. Following military service, he briefly joined the United States Foreign Service in Brussels. He then returned to Harvard to pursue graduate education, earning an MPA, MA, and PhD by 1949.

In 1948, Maisel became part of the faculty at the Haas School of Business, where he was instrumental in establishing the Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics. He also engaged in local governance, holding a position on the Berkeley Unified School District board between 1962 and 1965. After participating in a recall election centered on school desegregation issues, he was appointed to the Federal Reserve Board by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Maisel’s research into mortgage markets demonstrated that dependence on regional savings and loan institutions restricted credit availability during economic downturns, thereby intensifying recessions. As a member of a White House task force, he promoted mortgage securities backed by Ginnie Mae and advocated for Fannie Mae’s operation independent of the federal budget to improve liquidity and lending stability.

Between 1978 and 1980, Maisel collaborated with the National Bureau of Economic Research on a National Science Foundation-funded study examining the effects of government-insured bank deposits on banks’ capital structures and risk-taking behavior. Their analysis identified moral hazard concerns associated with guaranteed funds and accounting methods; despite these insights, policy changes were largely overlooked, contributing to the expensive savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.

After concluding his tenure at the Federal Reserve in 1972, Maisel resumed his academic career at Haas until his retirement in 1986. He was both a fellow and served as president (in 1973) of the American Finance Association. Sherman Maisel died at age 92 in San Francisco due to respiratory failure. He was survived by his wife Lucy Cowdin Maisel (who passed away in 2019), along with their two children and grandchildren.

Publications

• Sherman J. Maisel, Managing the Dollar, Norton, 1973.
• Sherman J. Maisel, Real Estate Finance, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992.
• Macroeconomics: Theories and Policies, W.W. Norton, 1982.
• Risk and Capital Adequacy in Commercial Banks, University of Chicago Press, 1981; Midway Reprint Edition, 1986.

External links

• Statements and Speeches of Sherman J. Maisel
• JSTOR: Sherman J. Maisel