Arthur Melvin "Art" Okun (November 28, 1928 – March 23, 1980) was an American economist.

Okun is known in particular for Okun's law, an observed relationship that states that for every 1% increase in the unemployment rate, a country's GDP will be roughly an additional 2.5% lower than its potential GDP.

He is also known as the creator of the misery index and the analogy of the deadweight loss of taxation with a leaky bucket.

[1] Okun graduated from Columbia College in 1949 with the Albert Asher Green Memorial Prize for the highest GPA.

[2] He went on to obtain a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia in 1956 before teaching at Yale University.