Arthur Laffer While he was teaching at the USC Marshall School of Business, Laffer played a key role in writing California Proposition 13, the property-tax-cap initiative that inspired a tax revolt across the nation. In the mid-1980s, Laffer left to teach at Pepperdine University in nearby Malibu. Laffer remained on the faculty for several years. In 1986, Laffer was a candidate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate—which he lost in the California primary to U.S. Congressman Ed Zschau who lost in the general election to the incumbent, Democrat Alan Cranston. Laffer identifies himself as a staunch fiscal conservative and libertarian.
Laffer curve Jude Wanniski, who was also present at the meeting. The basic concept was not new; Laffer himself notes antecedents in the writings of the 14th-century social philosopher Ibn Khaldun and others. Laffer does not claim to have invented the concept; he notes that there are antecedents, including in the "Muqaddimah" by 14th-century Tunisian scholar Ibn Khaldun, and in the writings of John Maynard Keynes. It was not until the 1970s that Laffer's name began to be associated with the idea. The term "Laffer curve" was reportedly coined by Jude Wanniski (a writer for "The Wall Street Journal") after a 1974