Fiscal Accomplishments and Budget Update: A Discussion with OMB Director Peter Orszag

On July 28, the Brookings Institution hosted Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), for a discussion of the economic and fiscal accomplishments of the Obama administration and the path ahead. Orszag was instrumental in crafting several of the administration’s priority policies including the Recovery Act and health reform effort, and as OMB director has been on the front lines of dealing with the fiscal challenges the nation faces. This was Orszag’s last public speech before stepping down as OMB director on July 30.

NOTE: The audio for this event is edited midway through because a portion of the recording is inaudible.

Before joining the White House, Orszag served as the director of the Congressional Budget Office. He was also the Joseph A. Pechman senior fellow and deputy director of Economic Studies at Brookings.  While at Brookings, he also served as director of The Hamilton Project, director of the Retirement Security Project, and co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. During the Clinton administration, he was a special assistant to the president for economic policy and before that a staff economist and then senior advisor and senior economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Brookings Senior Fellow William Gale introduced Dr. Orszag. After his remarks, Orszag took questions from the audience.