Karen Dynan

Karen Dynan, nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute since March 2017, is a professor of the practice in the Harvard University economics department. She served as assistant secretary for economic policy and chief economist at the US Department of the Treasury from 2014 to 2017, where she led analysis of economic conditions and development of policies to address the nation’s economic challenges. From 2009 to 2013, Dynan was vice president and codirector of the economic studies program at the Brookings Institution. Before that, she was on the staff of the Federal Reserve Board, leading work in macroeconomic forecasting, household finances, and the Fed’s response to the financial crisis.

Dynan has also served as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (2003–04) and as a visiting assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University (1998). Her current research focuses on fiscal and other types of macroeconomic policy, consumer behavior, and household finances. Dynan received her PhD in economics from Harvard University and her AB from Brown University.