Biography

Brock Blomberg, the eighth President of California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), is a passionate advocate for higher education and wellness. As a macroeconomist with expertise in the economics of terrorism, Blomberg’s scholarship has forged connections between economics, politics, and philosophy. 

At CIIS, President Blomberg is embarking on a brisk course of strategic change for the university by reinforcing their Seven Commitments: integral and innovative governance, community, diversity, social justice, multiple ways of learning, thinking, and sustainability. 

Blomberg previously led Ursinus College through its first campus master plan in nearly a generation. Under his guidance, the college raised more than $107 million in gifts from a single comprehensive campaign and completed a $29 million Innovation and Discovery Center with two award-winning venues. He launched the college’s Institute for Inclusion and Equity to coordinate programming and dialogue around diversity and social justice. 

He has published over 30 articles and book chapters in top economics journals such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Public Economics, and the Review of Economics and Statistics. His research shows that terrorism has a statistically significant impact on the economy and that trade is particularly sensitive to attacks. He estimates the cost of the September 11th attacks to be approximately $60 billion. The impact would have been higher if not for the responsiveness of policymakers and the resiliency of the United States economy. 

Blomberg was dean of the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, where he also served as the Peter K. Barker Professor of Economics and the George R. Roberts Fellow. An internationally known scholar and author of more than 40 articles and book chapters, Blomberg is a political economist with deep roots in national and global economic policy. He was on the faculty at Wellesley College and served as a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. 

Blomberg was a senior economist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush and was the U.S. Representative to the Economic Committee for Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation. He also served at the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Blomberg served in the military for eight years and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Tampa. He holds a doctorate in Philosophy of Economics and master’s degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University.

Education

PhD/MA, Johns Hopkins University

BS, University of Tampa

Publications

“Terrorism and the Invisible Hook” with Ricardo Fernholz and John-Clark Levin. Southern

Economic Journal (2013) Vol 79. Number 3: 849-863.

“Lines in the Sand: Border Effects, Economic Integration and Disintegration of Post-War Iraq” with Roz Engel. Journal of Law and Economics (2012): 503-538.

“Terrorist Group Survival: Ideology, Tactics, and Base of Operations” with Khusrav Gaibulloev, and Todd Sandler. Public Choice, Vol 149. Numbers 3-4 (2011): 441-463.

S. Brock Blomberg, Rozlyn C. Engel and Reid Sawyer “On the Duration and Sustainability of Transnational Terrorist Organizations,” Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 54, No. 2 (2010):303-330.

Blomberg, S. Brock, Gregory D. Hess, and Yaron Raviv. “Where Have All the Heroes Gone? A Rational-Choice Perspective on Heroism.” Public Choice 141.3-4 (2009): 509-522.

Blomberg, S. Brock, and Gregory D. Hess. “How Much Does Violence Tax Trade?.” Review of Economics and Statistics 88.4 (2006): 599-612.

Blomberg, S. Brock, Jeffry Frieden, and Ernesto Stein. “Sustaining Fixed Rates: The Political Economy of Currency Pegs in Latin America.” Journal of Applied Economics 8.2 (2005): 203-225.

Blomberg, S. Brock, Gregory D. Hess, and Athanasios Orphanides. “The Macroeconomic Consequences of Terrorism.” Journal of Monetary Economics 51.5 (2004): 1007-1032.

Blomberg, S. Brock, Gregory D. Hess, and Akila Weerapana. “Economic Conditions and Terrorism.” European Journal of Political Economy 20.2 (2004): 463-478.

Blomberg, S. Brock, and Gregory D. Hess. “Is the Political Business Cycle for Real?.” Journal of Public Economics 87.5-6 (2003): 1091-1121.

Blomberg, S. Brock, and Joseph E., Jr. Harrington. “A Theory of Rigid Extremists and Flexible Moderates with an Application to the U.S. Congress.” American Economic Review 90.3 (2000):605-620.

Asea, Patrick K., and Brock Blomberg. “Lending Cycles.” Journal of Econometrics 83.1-2 (1998):89-128.

Blomberg, S. Brock, and Gregory D. Hess. “Politics and Exchange Rate Forecasts.” Journal of International Economics 43.1-2 (1997): 189-205.