Douglas W. Elmendorf and Seth Wheeler Join Economic Studies at Brookings

Washington, D.C. – Former CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf and former Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Senior Advisor for Financial Services Seth Wheeler have joined the Economic Studies program at Brookings, Vice President and Director of Economic Studies Ted Gayer announced today.

Elmendorf re-joins the Economic Studies program as a Visiting Fellow, coming from the Congressional Budget Office, where he was Director from 2009 until earlier this year. He had served as a Brookings Senior Fellow from 2007 to 2009; while at Brookings, he was co-editor of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity and directed the Hamilton Project. Prior to that, he served in various roles at the Federal Reserve Board, including Chief of the Macroeconomic Analysis Section. Elmendorf also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at Treasury and as a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his doctorate from Harvard. Elmendorf will be the next dean of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, starting in January 2016.

Wheeler is a Guest Scholar focusing on the intersection of financial innovation, technology and policy, as well as on housing finance. Previously, he led White House policy on financial services, financial reform, financial innovation, and housing. Prior to that he served as Chief of Staff and Assistant Director of the Office of Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Board, and was Deputy Assistant Secretary and Senior Advisor for Financial Markets at the Treasury. Before his government service, he was Vice President for Strategy and Principal M&A at Morgan Stanley and a Consultant in the Strategy and Private Equity Groups at Bain. Wheeler received his BA from Brigham Young University, his law degree from Columbia and his MBA from Harvard.

“Doug is widely recognized for his leadership of the CBO, his ability to approach problems in a fair and open way, and his ability to work with both sides of the political aisle in tackling our nation’s toughest policy challenges,” said Gayer.“ I am very happy to welcome Doug back to his old home in Economic Studies, where we look forward to working with him on a broad array of macroeconomic topics including both fiscal and monetary policy. In Seth we gain the expertise of someone who was inside the trenches of the financial crisis as a part of both the Bush and Obama administrations, where he led initiatives that helped stabilize the housing market and coordinated financial reform efforts. He also brings private-sector experience. Economic Studies is gaining two valuable, highly-regarded experts, and we are pleased to welcome them both to our program.”