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The policy agenda of the late William E. Simon, former Secretary of the United States Treasury and member of Lafayette’s Class of 1952, will be the theme of a roundtable discussion sponsored by Lafayette Saturday, Oct. 12, at the 54th Annual International Atlantic Economic Conference in Washington, D.C.
Speakers will include Susan Averett, Sheila Handy, and Ute Schumacher, as well as Gladstone Hutchinson, dean of studies and a former member of the department. Three presentations will focus on five specific “rules” that Simon believed government should follow to turn around the economy. A concluding talk will explore Simon’s personal agenda for the future of American society.
Presented in a speech before the Montpelier Society in 1980, the five “rules” reflected Simon’s belief that “reliance on only one policy tool creates the same distorting imbalances as concentrating on specific rather than comprehensive public goals.” He maintained that excessive government spending and recurring federal budget deficits significantly contributed to high inflation and unemployment, and decreasing productivity and private capital growth, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Lafayette also will sponsor a keynote speech at the conference’s Oct. 11 luncheon by Paul McAvoy, Williams Brothers Professor of Management Studies at Yale School of Management, on “The Role of Secretary of the Treasury William Simon in Proposing Fiscal Policy for Stagflation.” In addition, remarks will be given by Lafayette President Arthur J. Rothkopf ’55 and Harold M. Hochman, William E. Simon Professor of Political Economy at Lafayette.
The 63rd Secretary of the United States Treasury, Simon graduated from Lafayette in 1952 with a bachelor of arts degree in government and law. Lafayette awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1973. Lafayette awarded him the George Washington Kidd Class of 1836 Award in 1979 for his attainments in the field of public service. He was elected in 1986 as a charter member of Lafayette’s Société d’Honneur, which was created by the board of trustees to recognize exceptional generosity by alumni, parents and friends.
He began service on Lafayette’s board of trustees in 1970. He resigned from the board in 1973 when he was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Treasury by President Richard M. Nixon. Following his service as treasury secretary, he rejoined Lafayette’s board in 1977 and served until 1990, when he became an Emeritus Trustee.
In 1981 he made a generous gift to Lafayette that made possible the establishment of a new endowed professorship in the department of economics and business, the William E. Simon Chair of Political Economy. In 1984 he and his first wife, Carol Girard Simon, provided significant support toward two major projects, an 18,000-square-foot addition to Skillman Library, called the William E. Simon and Carol G. Simon Wing, and the William E. Simon Center for Economics and Business Administration.
In 1987, on the occasion of his 35th Reunion, Simon established a scholarship fund to help economically disadvantaged students attend Lafayette. These students are designated as Simon Scholars.
Simon began his career in finance in 1952 with Union Securities, becoming an assistant vice president and manager of the Municipal Trading Department three years later. In 1957, he joined Weeden and Company as vice president, a post he held until he joined the Salomon Brothers investment banking firm in 1964. Made senior partner in charge of the Government Bond and Municipal Bond Departments of Salomon Brothers in 1970, Simon also served as one of the seven partners on the firm’s executive committee. During his years on Wall Street, Simon was active in Investment Bankers Association of America (later Securities Industry Association). He also founded and served as president of Association of Primary Dealers in U.S. Government Securities and was national chairman of fund-raising for U.S. Olympic Committee.
Simon became Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in February 1973. He oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Treasury Department and directed the administration’s program to restructure U.S. financial institutions. Appointed to chair the President’s Oil Policy Committee within weeks of his arrival in Washington, Simon had responsibility for the oil import program and quickly became expert on the nation’s escalating energy problems. At the height of the Arab oil embargo in December 1973, Nixon selected Simon to replace John Love as administrator of the newly created Federal Energy Office. As “energy czar,” he instituted a mandatory fuel allocation program and was able to stem the rising tide of public hysteria (without resorting to gasoline rationing) until the embargo was lifted in spring 1974.
Simon continued to serve simultaneously as Deputy Secretary and head of the FEO until George Shultz’s resignation as Treasury Secretary in April 1974. Nominated by President Nixon to succeed Shultz, Simon was sworn in as Secretary of the Treasury in May 1974. When Gerald Ford assumed the presidency in August, he asked Simon to continue in the post.
As Secretary of the Treasury, Simon headed a 125,000-person department, which collected the nation’s taxes, paid its bills, managed its accounts, printed its currency, and minted its coins. He also had responsibility for various law enforcement agencies that were part of the Treasury, including U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Secret Service, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. In his capacity as chief financial officer of the United States and principal adviser to the President on economic affairs, Simon chaired or held membership in numerous financial, trade, and economic organizations. Foremost among these was the Economic Policy Board, which President Ford created in September 1974 with Simon at its helm, to advise him on all domestic and international economic policies.
Simon also chaired the East West Foreign Trade Board and the Council on Wage and Price Stability, as well as serving as U.S. Governor of the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. Simon’s nearly three-year tenure in office saw the following developments: the 1974 recession and recovery; major tax reform initiatives, including the Tax Reduction Act of 1975; international agreements on a new monetary structure based on flexible exchange rates; passage of the Trade Act of 1974, liberalizing trade policy; the New York City fiscal crisis of 1975 and its settlement; and the reintroduction of the two-dollar bill.
After leaving office in January 1977, Simon returned to business, serving first as adviser and consultant to such firms as Booz Allen & Hamilton, Inc. and Blyth Eastman Dillon & Co., Inc. Later he formed his own investment firm, Wesray Corporation. In addition, he wrote two books during this period, both of which became best-sellers: A Time for Truth (1978) and A Time for Action (1980). In 1987, he founded and became chairman of WSGP International, Inc.
Simon also lent his support to a myriad of organizations, causes, and philanthropies, including service as chairman of President Ronald Reagan’s Productivity Commission, president of John M. Olin Foundation, president of Richard Nixon Presidential Archives Foundation, chairman of U.S. Olympic Foundation Board of Trustees, and president of United States Olympic Committee. In addition to Lafayette, he received honorary degrees from Pepperdine University, Jacksonville University, Tel Aviv University, Manhattan College, and Rutgers University.