Gillian Brunet, assistant professor of economics, received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the intersection of macroeconomics, economic history and public economics. Brunet uses microeconomic data to study macroeconomic questions, often in historical contexts. Her specialty is the U.S. economy during and immediately after World War II. She studies how the wartime economy altered macroeconomic relationships during the war, as well as longer-term mechanisms through which WWII influenced the economy after 1945.

Brunet teaches macroeconomics and economic history. Before coming to Smith, Brunet was a post-doctoral fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and an assistant professor at Wesleyan University. 

Selected Publications

“Inflation Expectations and Consumption: Evidence from 1951,” with Carola Binder, Economic Inquiry, April 2022, 60(2): pp. 954-974.