Barry Phillips Bosworth

08/14/1942 - 06/01/2025

Barry P. Bosworth, an economist with the Brookings Institution whose wide-ranging research, prolific publications, and candid public statements informed and challenged at least two generations of economic policymakers in the U.S. and beyond, died on June 1, 2025, at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was 82 years old. The cause of his death was acute pulmonary fibrosis.

Barry Bosworth was born and raised on a small farm in rural southwest Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Economics in 1964 and completed his doctorate there in 1969. With a strong background in mathematics and early computing, he initially worked as a staff economist with the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House under Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon.

In September 1969, Barry Bosworth accepted an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. He later joined the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, where he spent more than four and a half decades.

From 1977 to 1979, on an extended leave from Brookings, Barry Bosworth served as Director of the Council on Wage and Price Stability under President Jimmy Carter. In this role, he earned a reputation as an unusually candid public official, speaking plainly about the successes and failures of efforts to control prices and wages in attempts to counter inflation.

Barry returned to Brookings in 1979 as a Senior Fellow in the Economic Studies Program. In this capacity, he was principal or co-author and editor or co-editor of at least 25 books and over 150 articles and working papers on a wide range of topics, including trade, productivity, monetary policy and capital formation, income inequality, social security and population aging, inflation, health care, and higher education. His aversion to narrow specialization and voracious curiosity also led him to investigate economic issues worldwide. He researched and wrote about economic challenges facing countries such as Chile, Sweden, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Greece, Korea, Japan, India, and China.

Barry is survived by his wife of 60 years, Nancy Kay (DePuit) Bosworth, who worked as an elementary school teacher. He is also survived by his two sons, Jeffrey (married to Yulia) and David (married to Britt), and four grandchildren: Paris (married to Amy), Sydney, Alexander, and Sasha. He also cherished two great-grandchildren, Piper and Olive. His brother Brian, along with several nieces and nephews, also mourn his loss.

An informal remembrance of Barry Bosworth will be held on Saturday, July 19 from 12:00 to 3 p.m. at Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home, 11800 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, MD.