Gary Richardson

Gary Richardson serves as Professor of Economics at the University of California, Irvine and Faculty Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Previously, he held the inaugural position of Historian of the Federal Reserve System from 2012 to 2016.

His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Chicago.

Richardson's research integrates economic theory with historical analysis across three primary domains: (1) Monetary systems and financial crises, examining central banking networks, regulatory independence, and the Great Depression's financial panics; (2) Institutional development, analyzing property rights' impact on England's Industrial Revolution; and (3) Cultural economics, investigating religion's role in shaping economic organization during medieval and early modern Europe. His interdisciplinary approach bridges financial history with contemporary policy debates.

As the Federal Reserve's first official historian, Richardson pioneered institutional documentation of central banking evolution. His scholarly contributions emphasize how historical financial structures inform modern regulatory frameworks, particularly regarding systemic risk and institutional resilience during economic contractions.