W. Adam Looney Named Brookings Senior Fellow and Policy Director of The Hamilton Project

W. Adam Looney has joined Brookings as a senior fellow in Economic Studies and policy director of The Hamilton Project, Brookings President Strobe Talbott announced today. Looney will also work with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center to analyze new tax proposals. Looney spent the past year as the senior economist for public finance and tax policy with the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.

The Hamilton Project, launched in April 2006, is an economic policy initiative at Brookings that generates new policy ideas for promoting broad-based economic growth that benefits more Americans. Working closely with Hamilton Project Director Michael Greenstone, Looney will oversee the project’s policy agenda, which has included a broad range of topics such as health care, education, tax policy, energy, the environment, and the state of U.S. infrastructure.

“Adam’s impressive mind and his experiences at the Federal Reserve Board, the Treasury Department and the Council of Economic Advisers give him unique insights into how to improve economic policy to promote broad-based economic growth,” said Greenstone. ” He is a rising star in economic policy circles and we look forward to his leadership in framing The Hamilton Project’s policy agenda.”

Looney’s research focuses on tax policy, labor economics, inequality and social policy. At the Council of Economic Advisers, Looney examined policies on the tax code and entitlement spending. He also advised the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board on tax reform. Prior to that, he had forecasted developments in the labor market and the macroeconomic effects of major government programs for the Federal Reserve Board. In a September 2009 article in the American Economic Review, Looney and his coauthors examined how the presentation and perception of tax incentives affects consumer behavior and shapes economic outcomes. In previous research, he has reassessed methods used to evaluate the benefits of social insurance programs, and provided evidence of the effects of government policies on the employment and well-being of low-income households.

“Adam is a great addition to our program,” said Karen Dynan, Vice President and Co-Director of Economic Studies. “His academic research and experience working with policymakers on these macro and fiscal issues will help inform debate as our nation’s economy moves forward.”

Looney received a PhD in economics from Harvard University in 2004 and a BA in economics from Dartmouth College in 1999.