Bernstein, Edward M. (Edward Morris), 1904-1996

Edward M. Bernstein (1904-1996), professor of economics at the University of North Carolina, 1935-1940; principal economist for the United States Treasury Department, 1940-1946; assistant to the secretary of the United States Treasury Department, 1946; research director of the International Monetary Fund, 1944-1958; president of EMB (Ltd.) Research Economists, 1958-1981; and guest scholar at the Brookings Institution beginning in 1982.

From the description of Edward M. Bernstein papers, 1927-1996 [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 26243287

Epithet: of the International Monetary Fund

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000349.0x0003df

Edward M. Bernstein, born 16 December 1904 in Bayonne, N.J., had a long and distinguished career in economics. He received his Ph.B. from the University of Chicago in 1927 and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1931. He taught economics at North Carolina State University from 1930 to 1935, and was on the faculty of the Department of Economics of the University of North Carolina from 1935 to 1940. From 1940 to 1946, he was principal economist for the United States Treasury Department, during which time he also served as assistant director of monetary research and, in 1946, as assistant to the secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department.

In 1944, Bernstein was chief technical advisor and executive secretary to the United States delegation to the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, N.H., where he played a significant role in designing the structure of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Starting in 1946 and continuing into 1958, Bernstein, in his capacity as the IMF's research director, was a guiding force in the Fund's policy decisions.

In 1958, Bernstein left the IMF to form EMB (Ltd.) Research Economists, an international monetary research firm. He retired as president of EMB in 1981 and in 1982 took up the position of Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution.

Bernstein died on 8 June 1996 in Washington, D.C.

From the guide to the Edward M. Bernstein Papers (#4502), 1927-1996, (Southern Historical Collection)