Robert J. Shiller (finance professor at Yale) is one of the more well-known academics in the public sphere. He's written a couple of best-sellers ("Irrational Exuberance" and "Subprime Solution"), created the Case-Shiller Index of home prices, and just testified before the Bicameral Hearing On the Subprime Crisisr. In case you're interested, here's the video:
And if you want more Shiller, here's a video of his recent authors@Google talk on his "Subprime Solution" book:
HT: The Big Picture