Orszag tapped for budget post

Peter Orszag '91, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and former Clinton economic adviser, was selected Tuesday to head the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The office, known for its timely and objective analysis of the federal budget, studies the national debt and reviews legislation to examine its impact on the budget.

Economics professor Harvey Rosen, former chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, described the CBO as "one of the best policy shops in Washington," adding that it conducts "very careful, evidence-based studies of economic policy problems."

Rosen added that the office is well-regarded for its sober and objective presentation of economic issues and needs a leader "who's not going to politicize it."

Though Orszag is associated with the Democratic Party, economics professor Alan Blinder said these ties would not affect his leadership of the office.

"He's very good; just extremely sharp, but without a big ego," said Blinder, who knew Orszag as a Princeton student and worked with him on the Council of Economic Advisors. "He is extremely productive and efficient. He is very knowledgeable about the ways of Washington. He has a very good sense of the policy-relevant parts of economics."

Orszag is especially effective at explaining complicated economic concepts to politicians, Blinder added, a skill that is important because "a lot of economics is deep in the theoretical weeds."

Blinder, who served briefly in 1975 as Deputy Assistant Director of the CBO, noted that the office has changed greatly since he left it. "Now it is a very well-established institution," he said.

Though Blinder could not think of any specific changes Orszag would make as director, he said there were likely to be some. "He's not the sort of person to sit on something as a caretaker," he said.

Orszag, an economics major at Princeton and a Marshall Scholar, received his master's and Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. His senior thesis was entitled "Congressional Oversight of the Federal Reserve: Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives."

The CBO was created by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Its director is chosen jointly by the speaker of the House and the president of the Senate at the recommendation of the House and Senate budget committees.