School of Public Policy Professor Phillip Swagel is taking a leave of absence to serve as the tenth director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
CBO produces independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues in support of the Congressional budget process. The office is nonpartisan and conducts objective analysis of reports and cost estimates for proposed legislation.
Swagel came to the School of Public Policy in 2010. He previously served as assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department, where he advised Secretary Paulson on aspects of economic policy and served as a member of the Troubled Asset Relief Program investment committee. He has also been chief of staff and a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, an economist at the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve Board.
“Professor Swagel is an exemplar of the scholar-practitioner that this school is well known for,” said SPP Dean Robert C. Orr. “He will not only serve the country well, he will also do this school’s strong tradition proud.”
He has taught courses on domestic and international economics and he is a senior policy advisor to the Center for Financial Policy at the University’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.
“CBO is a tremendously important institution. It is well known for analytical rigor and bi-partisanship at a time when we need more of both,” Orr said. “Professor Swagel is the embodiment of both.”