Sir William Aylsham Bryan Hopkin (December 7, 1914

1914 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1914 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales - Edward, Prince of Wales, son of King George V of the United Kingdom*Princess of Wales - vacant...

 – October 10, 2009

2009 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 2009 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales - Charles, Prince of Wales*Princess of Wales - Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall *First Minister...

) was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 economist. He was chief economic adviser to the Treasury during the tenure of Denis Healey

Denis Healey

Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey CH, MBE, PC is a British Labour politician, who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979.-Early life:...

 as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Hopkin was educated at Barry Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge

St John's College, Cambridge

St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....

, where he was a student of John Maynard Keynes

John Maynard Keynes

John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments...

. In 1938 he married Renée Recour (d. 2002), and they had two sons.

In 1941, during the Second World War, Hopkin was working as a civil servant at the Ministry of Health when selected by Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

 to be part of the government's statistical team. He was knighted in 1971 and became Professor of Economics at Cardiff University

Cardiff University

Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...

 the following year.

Remaining a Keynesian, he was appointed head of the Government Economic Service in 1973, and served as an adviser in succession to Healey, Iain Macleod

Iain Macleod

Iain Norman Macleod was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.-Early life:...

, and Anthony Barber, later emerging as a stern critic of Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

's economic policy.