Lael Brainard was the director of the U.S. National Economic Council. She was appointed by President Joe Biden to th𓆉e position in February 2023.

Brainard had been a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB) since June 2014, chosen by then-President Barack Obama to fill an unexpired term that ends on Jan. 31, 2026. Her appointment to the National Economic Council (NEC) required her to resign from the Fed, where she was vice chairman of the Board of Governors.

Brainard was at one point seen as a potential candidate for Fed chairman. However, on Nov. 22, 2021, the White House announced that the president would renominate Jerome Powell for another four-year term as Fed chair, with Brainard being nominated to fill the open seat of vice chair. The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Brainard as the Fed vice chair on April 26, 2022. Br🌊ainard was replaced in her 𒀰duties as the director of the NEC following the 2024 presidential elections.

Early Life and Education

The child of an American diplomat, Brainard grew up in East Germany and Poland during the Cold War. She received a B.A. with university honors from Wesleyan University in 1983. She received an M.S. and a Ph.D. in economics in 1989 from Harvard University. She was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship and a White House Fellowship.

Notable Accomplishments

Brainard began her career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. She has also published and edited several books and articles on economics.

Prior to joining the FRB, Brainard was undersecretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury for three years, from 2010 to 2013. In 2009, she was a counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury while also serving as a U.S. representative to the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Group of 20 (G-20) Finance Deputies and the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Group of Seven (G-7) Deputies. She was a member of the Financial Stability Board and was given the Alexander Hamilton Award for her service.

Brainard was vice president and the founding director of the Global Economy and Development Program for seven years, from 2001 to 2008. She was also the Bernard L. Schwartz Chair at The Brookings Institution, where she designed a research program that analyzes global economic challenges. The Brookings Institution, founded in 1916, is a nonprofit public policy research organization, or think tank, based in Washington, D.C.

Brainard served the Clinton administration as the deputy national economic advisor and deputy assistant to the president. She also was the administration's representative to the G-8. Before joining the White House, Brainard was an assistant and associate professor of applied economics at the Sloan School of Management of the 澳洲幸运5开🎐奖号码历史查询:Maꦰssachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1990 to 1996.

In 2019, Brainard was one of five recipients of the Centennial Medal awarded by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) at Harvard University. The Centennial Medal is the highest honor bestowed by Harvard's GSAS.

Director of the National Economic Council

In mid-February 2023, President Biden named Brainard to head the White House’s economic policy team as director of the National Economic Council. She succeeded Brian Deese in this role.

Brainard was viewed as less restrictive on monetary policy than some of her Fed colleagues at a time when the Biden administration hoped to control rising 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:inflation.

The Bottom Line

Lael Brainard, at one time, occupied the chief economic advisor position in the White House. She had a distinguished political career and has been an economic policy advisor, professor, and wa🦄s awꦦarded the Centennial Medal by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) at Harvard University.