Stephen Happel

Dr. Stephen Happel is a noted commentator on the U.S. economy. He is an Emeritus Professor of Economics at the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business, where he started teaching in 1975. He grew up in Quincy, Illinois, received a B.A. in mathematics and economics from the University of Missouri in 1969, an M.A. from Duke in 1972, and a Ph.D. in economics from Duke in 1976. In addition to visiting appointments at North Carolina State University, the Australian National University and the University of Waikato in New Zealand, Dr. Happel is founding director of the ASU School of Business Honors Program and served as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies from 1991 to 1999. He is presently a faculty associate in the ASU Center for the Study of Economic Liberty.

His research focuses on applied microeconomics and demographic issues. He has written textbooks and over 100 articles in both professional journals and popular outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the Cato Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Arizona Republic. This work covers arguments for free-market ticket scalping, student academic dishonesty at universities, U.S. fertility rates, and the snowbird lifestyle among retirees. His most recent article in the Sports Business Journal raised questions about the ethics of NFL teams in secondary ticket markets.

Dr. Happel’s teaching awards include the Burlington Northern Award, the ASU Distinguished Teaching Award, and Arizona Professor of the Year as selected by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. He taught large undergraduate classes in macroeconomics as well as MBA classes in managerial economics. Dr. Happel was also a long-time instructor at the Pacific Coast Banking School. He speaks throughout the U.S. on Federal Reserve policy, current tax and spending proposals by White House and Congress, and demographic patterns to consider where the U.S. economy may go next.