Alan J. Auerbach
Alan J. Auerbach is Robert D. Burch Professor of Economics and Law and Director of the Burch Center for Tax Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a member of the advisory committee of the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and a fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society. He has been a consultant to the U.S. Treasury, the OECD, the IMF, the World Bank, the Swedish Ministry of Finance, the City of San Francisco, and the New Zealand Treasury. Previously, Auerbach was deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation, and he held prior academic positions at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, and Harvard University.  He has written and edited numerous books and articles, including, most recently, “Fiscal Policy, Past and Present,” forthcoming in Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. Auerbach holds a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

Susanto Basu
Susanto Basu is Professor in the economics department at the University of Michigan, visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and visiting Professor in the economics department at Harvard University. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a member of the executive committee of the Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, and associate editor of QRJM, an electronic journal of macroeconomics. He has been on the editorial board of the American Economic Review and has organized several conferences for the National Bureau of Economic Research. Basu is the author of numerous articles and has received many awards for excellence in teaching as well as the University of Michigan Faculty Recognition Award. His most recent publication is “The Case of the Missing Productivity Growth,” co-authored with J.G. Fernald, N. Outon, and S. Srinivasan, forthcoming in the NBER Macroeconomics Annual, 2003. Basu holds an A.B. and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Olivier J. Blanchard
Olivier J. Blanchard is Class of 1941 Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation. He is also fellow and council member of the Econometric Society, member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, membre du Conseil d’Analyse Economique aupres du Premier Minstre, Paris, membre de la Commission de la Nation, Paris, adviser at the McKinsey Global Institute, and a member of advisory panels at the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Boston. Blanchard chaired the economics department at MIT for a number of years and has held academic positions at Harvard University. He has been vice president of the American Economic Association and co-editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including, most recently, “Fiscal Dominance and Inflation Targeting: Lessons from Brazil,” forthcoming from MIT Press in a volume on Brazil. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from MIT.

Alan S. Blinder
Alan S. Blinder is Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics and director of the Center for Economic Policy Studies at Princeton University. He is also a partner in Promontory Financial Group, vice chairman of the Promontory Interfinancial Network, and vice chairman of the G7 Group. Blinder served as vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from June 1994 until January 1996. He served as a member of President Clinton’s original Council of Economic Advisers, as Al Gore’s chief economic adviser during the 2000 Presidential campaign, and as deputy assistant director of the Congressional Budget Office when that agency started in 1975. He is a trustee of the Russell Sage Foundation and a former governor of the American Stock Exchange. He is the author or co-author of 16 books, including the textbook Economics: Principles and Policy (with William J. Baumol), and has written scores of scholarly articles. He holds an A.B. from Princeton University, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, all in economics.

Barry P. Bosworth
Barry Bosworth is Senior Fellow in the economic studies program at The Brookings Institution, where he holds the Robert V. Roosa Chair in International Economics. Previously, he was director of the President’s Council on Wage and Price Stability under President Carter, visiting lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor at Harvard University, and staff economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. Bosworth’s research has concentrated on issues of capital formation and saving behavior. His current projects include a study of the economic consequences of population aging, an examination of productivity growth in services, and an examination of the determinants of economic growth in developing countries. Recent publications include Services Productivity in the United States: New Sources of Growth, co-authored with Jack Triplett; “The Empirics of Growth,” co-authored with Susan Collins; and “Pension Reform and Saving,” co-authored with Gary Burtless. Bosworth holds a B.A. and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan.

W. Elliot Brownlee
W. Elliot Brownlee is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He joined the faculty of UCSB in 1967 and served at UCSB as professor of history from 1980 until his retirement in 2002. He also spent two years in service to the entire UC system, first as special advisor to the provost and then as associate provost. Brownlee was a visiting professor at Princeton University. He has written, co-authored, edited, or co-edited eight books, including The Reagan Presidency: Pragmatic Conservatism and its Legacies, which he co-edited with Hugh Davis Graham. “Taxation,” which Brownlee co-authored with C. Eugene Steuerle, appears in this volume. Brownlee’s most recent book is Federal Taxation in America: A Short History (second edition 2004, first edition, 1996). Brownlee’s numerous other books and published articles reflect his expertise in taxation, public finance in general, and American economic history. Brownlee graduated from Harvard University in 1963 and received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin in 1965 and 1969, respectively.  

Willem H. Buiter
Willem H. Buiter is Chief Economist and Special Counsellor to the President at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He is also professor of economics at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, visiting professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a member of the editorial board of International Economics and Economic Policy. Previously, Buiter was professor of international macroeconomics and fellow of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, UK, and a member of the monetary policy committee of the Bank of England. Earlier, he held academic posts at Yale University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Bristol University, and Princeton University. Buiter has consulted for the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the New Zealand Treasury, and the central bank of Peru. He is the author of numerous articles and books. He holds a B.A. in economics from Cambridge University, and M.A., M.Phil, and Ph.D. degrees, all in economics from Yale University.

Jean-Philippe Cotis
Jean-Philippe Cotis is Chief Economist and head of the economics department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris. Previously, he was director of the economics department at the French Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Industry. Cotis joined the Ministry in 1982 after graduating from the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA). He was economic advisor to the Minister in 1993 and 1994. Cotis was an economist at the IMF from 1986 to 1988. During his career, Cotis has worked frequently with international institutions. He was formerly chair of the Economic Policy Committee of the European Union (2001-2002) and of OECD’s Working Party No. 1. His research work has mainly concerned labor markets, macroeconomic policy, and taxation. Cotis has held various teaching assignments, including at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, ESSEC, Ecole des Mines, and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

James S. Duesenberry
James S. Duesenberry is Professor Emeritus in the economics department at Harvard University. Duesenberry is known for his policy work as an advisor to governments and policymakers worldwide, for his expertise in developing econometric models, and for his research into income, saving, and consumer behavior. He currently serves as a consultant to the Harvard Institute for International Development in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Gambia. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Kobe in Japan and at Southwest University of Finance and Economics, ChengDu, Sichuan, China. He was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Johnson. He is the author of numerous articles and books about macroeconomics and central banking, including Money, Banking, and the Economy, which he co-authored with Thomas Mayer and Robert Z. Aliber. Duesenberry was chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and currently serves on the Bank’s academic advisory council. He received his A.B., A.M., and Ph.D. degrees in economics from the University of Michigan.

Douglas W. Elmendorf
Douglas W. Elmendorf is Chief of the Macroeconomic Analysis Section of the Division of Research and Statistics at the Federal Reserve Board. He joined the Federal Reserve Board as an economist in 1995, leaving in 1998 to become senior economist at the Council of Economic Advisers and then deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Treasury. He rejoined the Federal Reserve Board in 2001. Prior to his career at the Board, Elmendorf served as analyst at the Congressional Budget Office and assistant professor at Harvard University. Elmendorf’s fields of interest include macroeconomics and public economics. His recent publications include “Short-Run Effects of Fiscal Policy with Forward-Looking Financial Markets,” co-authored with David L. Reifschneider in the National Tax Journal, September 2002; and “Fiscal Policy and Social Security Policy during the 1990s,” co-authored with Jeffrey B. Liebman and David W. Wilcox in American Economic Policy in the 1990s. Elmendorf holds an A.B. in economics from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

Eric Engen
Eric Engen is Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. His research focuses on Social Security, tax and budget policy, household saving, pension funds, mutual funds, and the U.S. economy. Engen is a former section chief and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Board. He has also served as a lecturer at The Johns Hopkins University and at the Center for American Politics and Public Policy (Washington, DC) of the University of California, Los Angeles; an assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles; associated staff at The Brookings Institution; and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Engen earned a B.S. in natural resources economics from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Virginia.

Jeffrey A. Frankel
Jeffrey A. Frankel is James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He directs the program in international finance and macroeconomics at the National Bureau of Economic Research, where he is also a member of the business cycle dating committee. Frankel served on the Council of Economic Advisers from 1996 to 1999, where his responsibilities included international economics, macroeconomics, and the environment. Previously, he was professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Other past affiliations include the Brookings Institution, Federal Reserve Board, Institute for International Economics, International Monetary Fund, University of Michigan, Yale University, and World Bank. Frankel’s research interests include international finance, monetary policy, regional blocs, Asia, and global environmental issues. He has written, co-authored, or edited numerous articles and books, including the textbook World Trade and Payments, published in 2002. He holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. from MIT.

Benjamin M. Friedman
Benjamin M. Friedman is William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy and formerly chairman of the department of economics at Harvard University. His research and writing focus primarily on economic policy and in particular on the role of financial markets in shaping how monetary and fiscal policies affect overall economic activity. Friedman’s best known book, Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Growth Under Reagan and After, received the George S. Eccles Prize. Friedman is a director of the Private Export Funding Corporation and of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. He is a trustee of the Standish Mellon Investment Trust and a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Brookings Panel on Economic Activity. Before joining the Harvard faculty, Friedman worked with Morgan Stanley & Co. He received his A.B., A.M., and Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and holds an M.Sc. in economics and politics from King’s College, Cambridge, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar.

Catherine L. Mann
Catherine L. Mann is Senior Fellow at the Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. Previously, she served as assistant director of the International Finance Division at the Federal Reserve Board, senior international economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and adviser to the chief economist at the World Bank. Mann taught for 10 years as adjunct professor of management at the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University and for two years at The Johns Hopkins Nitze School for Advanced International Studies. She is the author or co-author of numerous books and articles, including the forthcoming High-Tech and Globalization in America. Her areas of research interest include economic and policy issues of global information, communications, and technology and broader issues of U.S. trade, the sustainability of the current account, and the exchange value of the dollar. She graduated from Harvard University and holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Cathy E. Minehan
Cathy E. Minehan is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. She is an expert in payment systems, a major Fed responsibility, and currently serves as a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee. She chairs the Federal Reserve System Committee on Research, Public Information, and Community Affairs and is a member of the joint Board/Bank Payment System Policy Advisory Committee, which is responsible for issues related to systemic risk in national and international payment systems. Within the New England region, Minehan takes a leadership role in issues relating to structural economic development, including community development, public education, and training. She chairs the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and is vice chair of the Boston Private Industry Council, which operates school-to-career, welfare-to-work, and career center programs. Minehan began her career with the Federal Reserve System following graduation from the University of Rochester. She holds an M.B.A. from New York University. She was named New Englander of the Year by the New England Council in 2002 and has received several honorary degrees. 

Van Doorn Ooms
Van Doorn Ooms is Senior Fellow and formerly senior vice president and director of research at the Committee for Economic Development. Previously, he was executive director for policy and chief economist of the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives. He has also served as assistant director for economic policy (chief economist) at the Office of Management and Budget and chief economist of the Committee on the Budget, U.S. Senate. Before entering public service, Ooms taught economics at Yale University and at Swarthmore College, where he was a professor of economics. His primary fields of interest are macroeconomics and fiscal policy, with special emphasis on the political economy of the U.S. budget. Ooms has recently supervised CED research projects in U.S. trade policy, education, urban development, labor markets, regulation, funding for basic research, social security, pension policy, welfare reform, and campaign finance. Ooms graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College, studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and received his Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.

Rudolph G. Penner
Rudolph G. Penner is Senior Fellow at the The Urban Institute, where he holds the Arjay and Frances Miller chair in public policy. Previously, he was a managing director of the Barents Group, a KPMG company. Penner has served as director of the Congressional Budget Office, assistant director for economic policy at the Office of Management and Budget, deputy assistant secretary for economic affairs at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and senior staff economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. He has been a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and professor of economics at the University of Rochester. He is past president of the National Economists Club. The author of numerous books, pamphlets, and articles on tax and spending policy, Penner received the Abramson Prize for the best article published in 1988-89 in business economics. His most recent book, co-authored with Isabel Sawhill and Timothy Taylor, is Updating America's Social Contract. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in economics from Tthe Johns Hopkins University.

Alice M. Rivlin
Alice M. Rivlin is a Visiting Professor at the Public Policy Institute of Georgetown University and a Senior Fellow in the economic studies program at the The Brookings Institution, where she is director of the Greater Washington Research Program. She has served as vice chair of the Federal Reserve Board, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and chair of the District of Columbia Financial Management Assistance Authority. Rivlin was the founding director of the Congressional Budget Office. She was and director of the economic studies program at Brookings for four years and also served at the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as assistant secretary for planning and evaluation. The recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship, Rivlin has taught at Harvard, George Mason, and the New School. She is a past president of the American Economic Association and has served on the boards of several corporations. She is currently a director of the Washington Post Company and BearingPoint.  Rivlin holds a B.A. in economics from Bryn Mawr College and a Ph.D. in economics from Radcliffe College (Harvard University).

Christopher A. Sims
Christopher A. Sims is Professor of Economics at Princeton University.  Previously, he was Henry Ford II Professor of Economics at Yale University. He has also taught at the University of Minnesota and Harvard University and has been a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadelphia, and a consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and the IMF. Sims is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the Econometric Society, where he served as president in 1995. His areas of research interest are econometric theory for dynamic models and macroeconomic theory and policy. He is the author of numerous articles, including “Implications of Rational Inattention,” in the Journal of Monetary Economics (April 2003). Sims holds a B.A. in mathematics from Harvard College and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

C. Eugene Steuerle
Eugene Steuerle is a Senior Fellow at The Urban Institute, co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, a columnist for Tax Notes Magazine, and the author or editor of numerous books, articles, reports, and columns. He serves on the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics and on advisory panels or boards for the Congressional Budget Office, the Comptroller General of the United States, the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Actuarial Foundation, the Independent Sector, the National Center on Philanthropy and the Law, and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Previously, he has served as president of the National Tax Association, chair of the 1999 Technical Panel advising Social Security on its methods and assumptions, president of the National Economists Club Educational Foundation, deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for tax analysis, and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Between 1984 and 1985 he served as economic coordinator and original organizer of the U.S. Treasury’s tax reform effort. Steuerle’s latest book is Contemporary U.S. Tax Policy.

Lawrence H. Summers
Lawrence H. Summers is President of Harvard University. He is the former Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy at Harvard, and in the past decade he has served in a series of senior public policy positions, most recently as Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. He was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan and was chief economist at the World Bank. He was named professor of economics at Harvard in 1983, the youngest tenured professor in the University’s history. Previously, he served on the MIT faculty. Summers has written extensively on economic analysis and policy and has contributed more than 100 articles to professional economic journals. He edited the series Tax Policy and the Economy and has served as editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics. In 1993, Summers was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal, given every two years to an outstanding American economist under the age of 40. He was the first social scientist to receive the National Science Foundation’s Alan Waterman Award for outstanding scientific achievement. Summers holds an S.B. degree from MIT and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Edwin M. Truman
Edwin M. Truman is Senior Fellow at the Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. Previously, he served as assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury for international affairs. Before joining the U.S. Treasury, Truman was director and later staff director of the Division of International Finance at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and on the staff of the Federal Open Market Committee. He joined the Federal Reserve Board in 1972. Truman has been a member of numerous international groups working on economic and financial issues, including the Financial Stability Forum’s Working Group on Highly Leveraged Institutions (1999-2000) and the G-22 Working Party on Transparency and Accountability (1998). He has published on international monetary economics, international debt problems, economic development, and European economic integration. Truman is a former associate professor of economics at Yale University, where he received his M.A. and his Ph.D. He holds a B.A. from Amherst College and an honorary L.L.D. from Amherst.