William J. Baumol was born and raised in New York City. He received his undergraduate degree in economics with a minor in art from the City University of New York and his Ph.D. in economics from the London School of Economics. He taught at Princeton University for over forty years, and he is now at New York University where he is the director of the C. V. Starr Center for Applied Economics. Professor Baumol has published over five hundred scholarly articles and more than twenty books that have been translated into a dozen languages. He has been president of four professional societies, including the American Economic Association. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Joint Council on Economic Education and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is married and has two children and two grandchildren. Besides courses in economics, Professor Baumol also taught wood sculpture at Princeton University. Alan S. Blinder was born in New York City and earned his A.B. at Princeton University, his M.Sc. at the London School of Economics, and his Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology-all in economics. Since 1971, he has taught at Princeton University where he is now the Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics. Professor Blinder chaired the department of economics from 1988 to 1990, and he is also the founder and director of Princeton's Center for Economic Policy Studies Professor Blinder is the author of ten books and scores of scholarly articles. He is currently a member of the Council of Economic Advisers and presidentelect of the Eastern Economic Association. Professor Blinder is married, has two sons, and currently lives in Washington, D.C.