Dr. Safir is the President of Recon Research Corporation, an economic advisory firm based in Los Angeles. Earlier in his career, Dr. Safir held a variety of jobs in federal and state government.

In 1972, Dr. Safir worked on the staff of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in Washington. Following that, he spent a year on the White House staff. In both these positions he had great access, virtually no responsibility and a really good time.

Dr. Safir next moved to the Department of Justice, where he investigated white collar crime and antitrust abuses. Sadly, he made no more than a minimal impact on either.

In 1975, Dr. Safir became the Deputy Director of the Office of International Energy Policy at the U.S. Treasury. In this capacity he was responsible for assisting in the negotiation of multilateral energy treaties, primarily in Paris, a city to which Dr. Safir reluctantly traveled about 26 times a year for the next 2 years (hey, someone had to do it).

After an unfortunate incident involving a large truffle hound and slab of fois gras (don’t ask), Dr. Safir resigned his federal position in late 1977, got married, switched coasts and ended up as the Chief Business Economist for the State of California.

In May of 1980, a coalition of irate labor unions, disgruntled business owners and concerned state representatives suggested Dr. Safir should try the private sector. In June, 1980, Dr. Safir founded Recon, mainly to get even.

Dr. Safir and his wife, Maralee Beck, split their time between California and Colorado. They have two children, Zach and Erika. The first is a graduate of Yale University and now attends Columbia Law School. The second is a recent graduate of Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut.

Somehow Dr. Safir was awarded a BA degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1969 (with distinction, Phi Beta Kappa), a Masters degree in economic theory from Tufts University in 1970, and a Ph.D in Economics from Tufts in 1975. He is truly amazed.

Dr. Safir can be contacted at safir@reconcorp.com

All Recon Staff can be contacted by also calling (323) 655-3500.