Chris FarrellNobel Conference 52

Senior Economics Contributor for Marketplace Money from American Public Media

Lecture: On Economic Inclusion

Chris Farrell financed his graduate education by working for four years as a merchant seaman, working in the engine room, “going through the Suez and Panama canals, steaming past the Rock of Gibraltar under a full moon at midnight.” That experience likely shaped the personal finance advice he dispenses in venues such as American Public Media’s Marketplace: promote quality of life by practicing simplicity and frugality, and maintaining a margin of financial safety. Farrell identifies Aristotle as his favorite “financial planner,” noting that his concept of the Golden Mean, the place between excess and deficiency, as the “desirable though elusive middle” for which to shoot. His work The New Frugality linked that personal moderation to the environmental sustainability movement.

Farrell holds a BA from Stanford and an MA from the London School of Economics. In addition to his work with Marketplace Money, he is a regular columnist for Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He is the author of four books.

Listen to Chris Farrell on Marketplace Money from American Public Media.