Edward Conard

{{Short description|American businessman, author and scholar}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Edward Conard.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Edward Walter Conard | birth_date =  | birth_place = | disappeared_date =  | disappeared_place = | disappeared_status = | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | monuments = | other_names = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = {{plainlist|BSE University of Michigan at Ann Arbor *MBA 1982 Harvard Business School}} | occupation = | years_active = | employer = {{plainlist|self - independent director *Managing Director at Bain Capital *Director at Wasserstein Perella *Manager at Bain & Company *Engineer at Ford Motor Company}} | agent = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | height =  | television = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | movement = | opponents = | boards = | criminal_charge =  | criminal_penalty = | criminal_status = | spouse = Jill A. Davis (m. May 13, 2000) | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | callsign = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | module = | module2 = | module3 = | module4 = | module5 = | module6 = | website = {{URL|http://www.edwardconard.com}} | footnotes = }} '''Edward W. Conard''' is an American businessman, author and scholar. He is a ''New York Times''-bestselling author of ''The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class'' and ''Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You've Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong;'' a contributor to Oxford University Press' ''United States Income, Wealth, Consumption, and Inequality,''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/united-states-income-wealth-consumption-and-inequality-9780197518199?cc=us&lang=en&#|title=United States Income, Wealth, Consumption, and Inequality|date=2020-09-09|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-751819-9|series=International Policy Exchange|location=Oxford, New York}}</ref> and the publisher of ''[https://www.edwardconard.com/2023/09/12/about-the-macro-roundup/ Macro Roundup]''. Conard is an adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.<ref name=AEIEC/> Previously, he was a managing director at Bain Capital, where he worked closely with former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.<ref name=NYTimesPurpose>{{cite news|last1=Davidson|first1=Adam|title=The Purpose of Spectacular Wealth, According to a Spectacularly Wealthy Guy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/magazine/romneys-former-bain-partner-makes-a-case-for-inequality.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|accessdate=30 January 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 May 2012}}</ref> ==Early life and education== Conard grew up in the Detroit metropolitan area<ref name="conversationswithbillkristol.org">{{cite web|url=https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/video/edward-conard-ii/|title=Edward Conard: Economic Growth, Innovation, & Middle-Class Prosperity|website=Conversations with Bill Kristol}}</ref> and graduated with honors from the University of Michigan with a BSE in Operations Research in 1978.<ref name=AEIEC>{{cite web|title=Edward Conard Visiting Scholar|url=http://www.aei.org/scholar/edward-conard/|website=American Enterprise Institute|accessdate=30 March 2015}}</ref> He earned his MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School in 1982.<ref name=AEIEC/><ref name="conversationswithbillkristol.org"/>

==Early career and Bain Capital==

Prior to business school, Conard worked as an automotive engineer at Ford Motor Company. After graduating, he joined Bain & Company, the Boston-based global management-consulting firm, eventually becoming a vice president and leading the firm's industrial practice.<ref name=NYTimesPurpose/> Conard left Bain in 1990 to become a director at Wasserstein Perella & Co., a boutique investment bank. At Wassernstein, he headed the firm's Transaction Development Group.<ref name=NYTimesPurpose/> Conard was a managing director at Bain Capital, the head of Bain's New York office and the leader of its industrial practice. He joined the firm in 1993 prior to the firm raising $300 million of private equity.<ref name=BainCPE>{{cite web|title=Bain Capital About History|url=http://www.baincapitalprivateequity.com/about/history|website=Bain Capital Private Equity official website|accessdate=30 March 2015}}</ref> When Conard retired in 2007, Bain Capital managed $75 billion of capital and had offices in Boston, New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Mumbai.<ref name=BainCPE/> His first acquisition was that of a pharmaceutical-related company, Waters Corporation, for half a billion dollars. That same company later rose to more than $23 billion in value.<ref>{{cite web|title=Waters Corporation|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/WAT/}}</ref> While at Bain Capital, Conard took Waters Corporation, DDI, ChipPac, Innophos, and Sensata public and sat on their boards of directors.<ref name=SEC10K>{{cite web|title=Form 10-K|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1381272/000119312508033712/d10k.htm|website=SEC.gov|accessdate=2 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Form 10-K|url=http://ir.innophos.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1193125-06-69082|website=Innophos|accessdate=3 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Form 10-K ChipPAC, Inc.|url=http://www.getfilings.com/o0001193125-04-040704.html|website=Securities and Exchange Commission|publisher=Get Filings|accessdate=3 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Form S-1 DDi Corp.|url=http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/filing.ashx?filingid=1151163|website=Securities and Exchange Commission|publisher=Nasdaq.com|accessdate=3 April 2015}}</ref> He retired from the board of Waters Corporation in 2024.<ref name=WatersPubliccite>{{cite web|title=Leadership - Board of Directors|url=http://www.waters.com/waters/en_US/Leadership/nav.htm?cid=134614703&locale=en_US|website=Waters Corporation|accessdate=30 January 2015}}</ref> ==Writing, speaking, and scholar career==

Conard is the author of two top-ten ''The New York Times'' bestsellers: ''Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You've Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong'' and ''The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class''; a contributor to Oxford University Press' ''United States Income, Wealth, Consumption, and Inequality,'' and the publisher of ''Macro Roundup,'' a daily summary of salient economic news''.'' He became the tenth most searched author on Google in 2012 after publishing his first book.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Boog|first1=Jason|title=Charles Duhigg Tops Google's Trending Authors List for 2012|url=http://www.adweek.com/galleycat/charles-duhigg-tops-google-trending-authors-list-for-2012/63679|accessdate=30 January 2015|magazine=Adweek|date=19 December 2012}}</ref> Conard joined the American Enterprise Institute as a visiting scholar in 2012.<ref name=WpostAEI>{{cite news|last1=McDuffee|first1=Allen|title=Former Bain Capital partner Edward Conard joins AEI|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/thinktanked/wp/2012/12/18/former-bain-capital-partner-edward-conard-joins-aei/|accessdate=30 January 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=18 December 2012}}</ref> His work with AEI focuses on U.S. economic policy - in particular, on the effect of taxes, government policies, and finance on risk-taking and innovation.<ref name=AEIEC/> ===''Unintended Consequences''=== Conard published ''Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You've Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong'' in May 2012.<ref name=UCpenguin>{{cite web|title=Unintended Consequences|url=http://www.penguin.com/book/unintended-consequences-by-edward-conard/9781591846307|website=Penguin|accessdate=2 April 2015}}</ref> The book was featured on the cover of the ''New York Times Sunday Magazine'' and went on to become a ''New York Times'' top ten non-fiction bestseller.<ref>{{cite news|title=Best Sellers - Hardcover Nonfiction - July 15, 2012|url=https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2012-07-15/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html|accessdate=30 January 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=15 July 2012}}</ref> While ''The New York Times'' predicted the book might become "the most hated book of the year,"<ref name=NYTimesPurpose/> leading economists such as Greg Mankiw, Andrei Shleifer, Steven Levitt, Nouriel Roubini, Tyler Cowen, and Glenn Hubbard publicly endorsed the book.<ref name=EConReview4>{{cite web|title=Reviews|url=http://www.edwardconard.com/reviews-4/|website=Edward Conard official website|accessdate=2 April 2015}}</ref> In contrast to ''The New York Times'', ''The Wall Street Journal'' called the book "a full throttle defense of economic dynamism…refreshing at a time when so many take the failure of capitalism for granted."<ref name=WSJBookReview>{{cite news|last1=Carney|first1=Brian M.|title=Please Don't Soak the Rich|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303901504577462621107941692|accessdate=30 January 2015|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=13 June 2012}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' described ''Unintended Consequences'' as "…arguing that growing income inequality shows the economy is working." Timothy Noah, the author of ''The Great Divergence: America's Growing Inequality'' noted: "the biggest surprise, on opening ''Unintended Consequences'', lies in discovering that this book isn't about income inequality at all."<ref name=HPNoah>{{cite news|last1=Noah|first1=Timothy|title=Why Edward Conard Is Wrong About Income Inequality|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-noah/edward-conard-inequality_b_1551342.html|accessdate=30 January 2015|work=The Huffington Post|date=29 May 2012}}</ref> The book analyzes why the U.S. has outperformed other high-wage economies, explains the causes of the financial crisis, and makes recommendations for accelerating growth in its aftermath.<ref name=UCpenguin/> Conard summarizes his book in a 23-minute video for The UP Experience.<ref>{{cite web|title=Edward Conard|url=http://www.theupexperience.com/past_speakers/2012_speakers/edward_conard|website=The UP Experience|accessdate=30 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402141712/http://www.theupexperience.com/past_speakers/2012_speakers/edward_conard|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since its publication, Conard has made over 250 television appearances in which he has debated leading economists including Paul Krugman, Joe Stiglitz, Alan Krueger, Austan Goolsbee, and Jared Bernstein; journalists including Fareed Zakaria, Chris Hayes, and Andrew Ross Sorkin; and politicians such as Barney Frank, Howard Dean, and Eliot Spitzer.<ref name=EdConardMedia>{{cite web|title=All Media Appearances|url=http://www.edwardconard.com/all-media-appearances/|website=Ed Conard official website|accessdate=29 June 2015}}</ref> Conard also debated Jon Stewart for 33 minutes, one of Stewart's longest interviews.<ref>{{cite web|title=Exclusive - Edward Conard Extended Interview Pt. 1|url=http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/lrpw5t/exclusive---edward-conard-extended-interview-pt--1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016003424/http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/lrpw5t/exclusive---edward-conard-extended-interview-pt--1|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 16, 2014|website=The Daily Show|accessdate=30 March 2015}}</ref> The video of the debate has received nearly 100,000 views. He has also written op-eds for ''The Wall Street Journal'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Conard|first1=Edward|title=What Obama Didn't Learn From the 1990s|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444226904577559412267408438|accessdate=30 January 2015|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=2 August 2012}}</ref> ''The Washington Post'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Conard|first1=Edward|title=We don't need more humanities majors|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2013/07/30/we-dont-need-more-humanities-majors/|accessdate=30 January 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=30 July 2013}}</ref> ''Foreign Affairs'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Zakaria|first1=Fareed|last2=Conard|first2=Edward|title=How to Fix America|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139124/edward-conard-fareed-zakaria/how-to-fix-america|accessdate=30 January 2015|publisher=Foreign Affairs|date=June 2013}}</ref> ''Harvard Business Review'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Conard|first1=Edward|title=How to Get Our Savings on the Move Again|url=https://hbr.org/2012/06/how-to-get-our-savings-on-the|accessdate=30 January 2015|publisher=Harvard Business Review|date=8 June 2012}}</ref> ''Fortune'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Conard|first1=Edward|title=Rescuing subprime borrowers won't fix the economy|url=http://fortune.com/2014/06/11/rescuing-subprime-borrowers-wont-fix-the-economy/|accessdate=30 January 2015|magazine=Fortune|date=11 June 2014}}</ref> and ''Politico'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Conard|first1=Edward|title=Why tax hikes fall short for cliff talks|url=http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=BADB01E6-0CE2-4ACF-901F-E4C588380DEF|accessdate=30 January 2015|work=Politico|date=12 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418093901/http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=BADB01E6-0CE2-4ACF-901F-E4C588380DEF|archive-date=18 April 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> among others.

===''The Upside of Inequality''=== Conard published ''The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class'' in September 2016.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rosen|first1=Michael M.|title=In the Long Run|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/in-the-long-run/article/2005341|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321000920/http://www.weeklystandard.com/in-the-long-run/article/2005341|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 21, 2017|accessdate=12 February 2017|newspaper=The Weekly Standard|date=21 November 2016}}</ref> The book debuted at #8 on ''The New York Times'' top ten non-fiction list and reached #1 on ''The New York Times'' business book list.<ref name="NYTBsell10">{{cite news|title=The New York Times Best Seller List - Business|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2016/10/09/business-books/?_r=0|accessdate=8 February 2017|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ed Conard Official website|url=http://www.edwardconard.com/|accessdate=8 February 2017|publisher=Ed Conard official website}}</ref> ''The Upside of Inequality'' was met with positive reviews, including former president of Harvard University and economist Larry Summers, a very tough critic on the other side of the aisle, blurbed "I profoundly disagree but respect the clarity with which he makes his case..." and called it "a very valuable contribution" that will "sharpen your thinking on critical economic issues."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class|url=https://www.aei.org/publication/the-upside-of-inequality-how-good-intentions-undermine-the-middle-class/|accessdate=8 February 2017|publisher=American Enterprise Institute|date=31 August 2016}}</ref> Noted economist Tyler Cowen who wrote on Bloomberg News: "Conard's central idea is that risk-bearing equity capital is the truly scarce asset in most economic situations, and economic analysis should adapt accordingly. He is very creative in seeing some of the implications of this view. I... found it very stimulating to ponder. It puts many of the pieces together in a new and different way."<ref name="BloomberTCsupliy">{{cite news|last1=Cowen|first1=Tyler|title=Maybe Supply-Side Economics Deserves a Second Look|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-09-07/maybe-supply-side-economics-deserves-a-second-look|accessdate=8 February 2017|publisher=Bloomberg|date=7 September 2016}}</ref> Harvard economist Greg Mankiw recommended Upside and interviewed Conard on C-SPAN. David Author, George Borjas, Larry Lindsey, and other prominent economists also praised it.<ref name="MSNBCmorningjoe">{{cite news|title=What the Upside of Inequality really means|url=http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/what-the-upside-of-inequality-really-means-764736579868|accessdate=8 February 2017|publisher=MSNBC|date=14 September 2016}}</ref> ''National Review'' said the book is a "rousing defense of conservative beliefs about how markets and incentives drive prosperity."<ref name="NreviewSeptember">{{cite news|last1=Brennan|first1=Patrick|title=The Conservative Answer to Thomas Piketty That You've All Been Waiting For|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/440153/upside-inequality-edward-conard-book-persuasively-defends-conservative-economics|accessdate=8 February 2017|magazine=National Review|date=19 September 2016}}</ref>

=== ''The Economics of Inequality in High-Wage Economies'' === In 2021, Conard contributed the concluding chapter, “The Economics of Inequality in High-Wage Economies,” to the Oxford University textbook ''United States, Income Wealth, Consumption, and Inequality'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Edward |first=Conard |date=2020-10-09 |title=The Economics of Inequality in High-Wage Economies |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/33506/chapter-abstract/287821766?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=OUP Academic |language=en |doi=10.1093/o |doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207144301/https://academic.oup.com/book/33506/chapter-abstract/287821766?redirectedFrom=fulltext |archive-date=2022-12-07 |access-date=2024-12-16 |url-status=live }}</ref> which includes chapters by Emmanuel Saez, Jared Bernstein, Richard Burkhauser, Gerald Auten, and David Splinter among others. The chapter summarizes and updates the arguments Conard made in his previous books—that inequality has been predominantly earned and consequently accelerates the growth of middle-class incomes in the United States relative to other high-wage economies. The chapter references over 100 academic sources.

=== ''Macro Roundup'' === Since 2022, Conard and his research team have published a daily nonpartisan summary of the most salient economic news and research. The Roundup, which summarizes a variety of sources, makes Conard’s ongoing research freely available to the public in a newsletter and searchable database (with entries that predate 2022).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Mark |date=2023-09-12 |title=About Macro Roundup |url=https://www.edwardconard.com/2023/09/12/about-the-macro-roundup/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=Edward Conard |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Political activities==

In March 2011, Conard made a $1 million U.S. dollar contribution to the super PAC promoting Mitt Romney's candidacy in the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election through W Spann LLC, a shell corporation that rendered him anonymous and appeared to exist for the sole purpose of contributing to Romney's campaign. In August 2011, he came forward to quell the controversy that arose.<ref>{{cite news|title=$1 million Romney donor steps forward. Denies intent to sidestep law.|first=Jerry |last=Seper|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=August 7, 2011 |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/7/1-million-romney-donor-steps-forward/?page=all|accessdate=2012-05-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=OpenSecrets |title=Men Linked to Corporate Donations to Pro-Romney Super PAC Have Long History of Donating to Romney|authorlink=Brad Hooker |first=Brad |last=Hooker |date=September 13, 2011 |url=http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/09/money-men-pro-romney-super-pac.html|accessdate=2012-05-09}}</ref>

==Personal life== Conard is married to Jill Davis, an author and former writer for the ''Late Show with David Letterman''.<ref name=NYTwedding>{{cite news|title=Weddings; Jill Davis, Edward Conard|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/14/style/weddings-jill-davis-edward-conard.html|accessdate=30 January 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 May 2000}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==External links== * [http://www.edwardconard.com/ Ed Conard official website] * [http://www.edwardconard.com/all-media-appearances/ List of Ed Conard media appearances] * [http://www.edwardconard.com/category/articles/ List of Ed Conard op-ed articles] * [https://www.edwardconard.com/ed-conard-on-the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-discussing-his-book-and-why-risk-taking-isnt-the-enemy-of-a-properly-functioning-economy/ Ed Conard on The Daily Show with John Stewart] * {{C-SPAN|66872}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conard, Edward}} Category:Bain Capital people Category:University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Category:Harvard Business School alumni Category:Living people Category:1950s births Category:Ford people Category:American chief executives Category:American corporate directors Category:American male writers Category:American automotive engineers Category:Bain & Company employees Category:Year of birth missing (living people)