Stanley Fischer, world-famous economist and former Bank of Israel chief, dies at 81
US-Israeli financier, who was also Federal Reserve deputy head, hailed by Financial Times as ‘the most quietly influential person in global economics over the past several decades’
Stanley Fischer, a widely respected economist who served as head of the Bank of Israel for eight years and as vice chairman of the US Federal Reserve for three years, has died at the age of 81, according to Israeli media reports.
The US-based Fischer reportedly died surrounded by family members after being ill for the past few years.
The renowned financier was the Bank of Israel governor from 2005 to 2013, and successfully navigated the nation through the 2008 financial crisis. He received multiple accolades for his policies and led the Bank of Israel to be ranked first in 2010 among central banks by the International Institute for Management Development for its efficient functioning.
Fischer, a dual US and Israeli citizen, served as vice chairman of the US Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors from 2014 to 2017, and before that was the World Bank’s chief economist and the deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
In 2023, the Financial Times called him “the pocket-sized colossus of modern central banking” and “the most quietly influential person in global economics over the past several decades.”
In 2020-2021, he served on the board of directors of Israel’s Bank Hapoalim Ltd. for eight months, before resigning to spend more time with his family in the United States.
He had taught at MIT and was a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Fischer was born in 1943 to a Jewish family in Northern Rhodesia (today’s Zambia), and after the family moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), he became involved in the Habonim Zionist youth movement. He visited Israel in 1960 as part of a youth leaders’ program.
He later studied at the London School of Economics and at MIT, moved to the United States and became an American citizen in 1976. He eventually also obtained Israeli citizenship.
He had been married to Rhoda Fischer, who died in 2020. He is survived by three children.
The Times of Israel Community.