Raymond Mikesell

Who was Raymond Mikesell?

Raymond Frech Mikesell was an economics professor at the University of Oregon and was believed to be the last surviving economist from the Bretton Woods conference.

Mikesell was born in Eaton, Ohio. He received a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University and, in 1939, received a doctorate in economics from OSU. From 1937 to 1941, he was Assistant Professor at the University of Washington.

During World War II, Mikesell became an adviser to Assistant Treasury Secretary Harry Dexter White. Mikesell was a member of the technical staff at the Bretton Woods conference, which resulted in the creation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In his Bretton Woods Debates: A Memoir, Mikesell notes that he provided White with data that supported the United States' free trade position and calculated the initial quotas for the World Bank and IMF. He was a close friend of White, Frank Coe, and Sol Adler, and believed that they were not Communist sympathizers.