Jason Furman Biography

Jason Furman is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Director the Hamilton Project, an initiative aimed at developing policy solutions to promote shared growth and opportunity. Furman is also a Visiting Scholar at New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He has conducted research and policy work in a wide range of economic policy areas, including fiscal policy, tax policy, health economics, Social Security, and monetary policy. In 2005, CQ named him one of the five Social Security analysts who "exert more influence over the Social Security debate than any other individuals outside government."

Furman has worked in a several public policy positions. He served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy in the Clinton Administration where he chaired the interagency technical working group on Social Security reform and was the principal White House staff member responsible for budget and tax issues. Earlier in the Administration, Furman served as a Staff Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers and a Senior Director at the National Economic Council. Furman also served as Senior Economic Adviser to the Chief Economist of the World Bank, where he co-wrote (with Nobel Prize Laureate Joseph Stiglitz) one of the more widely cited papers on the East Asian financial crisis.

Furman has taught at Yale, Columbia, and now at NYU's Wagner School. In addition, he was previously Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. He has written numerous papers and articles on economic issues and testified frequently before Congress. Furman received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

Expertise
Tax policy; health policy; Social Security; budget; economic policy

Current Projects
Health tax policy; Social Security reform

Education
Ph.D. (2003), B.A. (1992), Harvard University

Background
Current Position(s): Visiting Scholar, New York University's Wagner School

Previous Position(s): Non-resident Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy (1999-2000); Staff Economist, Council of Economic Advisors (1996-1997); Senior Economic Advisor to the Chief Economist, The World Bank (1997-1998)

Selected Publications

• The President's Proposed Standard Deduction for Health Insurance
  by Leonard E. Burman, Jason Furman, Greg Leiserson, Roberton Williams (02/15/2007)
• Publications on the Brookings Website

<< back to main Fiscal Wake-Up Tour page