Wynne Godley

Distinguished Scholar Wynne Godley, longtime head of the Levy Institute’s Macro-Modeling Team, died on May 13. He was 83.

At the time of his death, Godley was professor emeritus of applied economics at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of King’s College. He was formerly a senior visiting research fellow at the Cambridge Endowment for Research in Finance, and a member of the British Treasury’s Panel of Independent Forecasters—the so-called “Six Wise Men.” Much of his work focused on the strategic prospects for the US, UK, and world economies, and the use of accounting macroeconomic models to reveal structural imbalances. He published extensively. His most recent book, Monetary Economics: An Integrated Approach to Credit, Money, Income, Production, and Wealth (2007; with Marc Lavoie), is an elaboration of his classic textbook Macroeconomics, written in 1983 with Francis Cripps.

He is survived by his wife, the former Kathleen “Kitty” Garman, and their daughter.

An extensive obituary appeared in the Times of London on May 17. “Wynne Godley,” it said, “was the most insightful macroeconomic forecaster of his generation.”

Another extensive appreciation appeared later, this one in the Guardian.