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Lael Brainard

Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs (since April 2010)

(James M. Thresher/
The Washington Post)

Why She Matters

A China expert and former Clinton White House economic adviser, Brainard helps the Treasury grapple with the economic recovery and China currency issues.

She arrived at Treasury from the liberal Brookings Institution, where she helped start the Global Economy and Development program. She is a veteran of the Clinton administration, where she worked as the deputy director of the National Economic Council under Gene Sperling. She also advised Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Founding Director of the Global Economy adn Development Program at the Brookings Institution (2000 to 2009); Deputy Director at the National Economic Council (1994 to 2000); Professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1989 to 1994)
Alma Mater: Wesleyan University, B.A., 1983; Harvard University, M.A and PhD (economics), 1989

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Path to Power

Brainard attended Wesleyan University, graduating in 1983. After school, she got a job at the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. She would stay there for two years before attending Harvard University to study economics. After obtaining both her master's and Ph.D in 1989, Brainard then headed to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an associate professor of applied economics, where she stayed for five years.

Clinton Administration

In 1994, Brainard joined the Clinton administration as deputy to NEC Director Gene Sperling. She helped shape the administration's international economic policy, and also served as its representative at the Group of Eight industrial nations meetings. But in July 2000, as Clinton's presidency wound down, Brainard left to join the Brooking Institution as a senior fellow.

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The Issues

In the first two months of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's tenure, he was operating nearly solo in devising a plan to rescue the U.S. economy from the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.As few senior Treasury aides had been appointed, Geithner instead relied on a bevy of unofficial advisers.

Meanwhile, some European allies criticized the aggressive U.S. economic intervention and $787 billion stimulus package, and the administration continued to joust with Chinese leader Hu Jintao over artifical deflation of the country's currency, the yuan.

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U.S. Competiveness

While at Brookings, Brainard directed the Competitiveness Initiative that strove to recommend strategies to keep the U.S. globally competitive. In February 2009, Brainard coauthored a report titled "Strengthening American Competitiveness: Regaining Our Competitive Edge" that suggested four ways to maintain U.S. economic strength. The proposals included investing in infrastructure, people, ideas and green transformation. Some of Brainard's more specific suggestions included:

Expanding access to broadband Internet
Providing universal health care
Creating incentives, like monetary prizes, for innovative ideas
Increasing investment in green technology research and development.

China

China tops the U.S. global economic agenda as well as Brainard's agenda. For years, critics have accused China of artificially deflating its currency, the yuan, making its exports cheap, which has increased the U.S. trade deficit and helped China grow into a dominant global trade force.

In 2007, Brainard, along with coauthor Wing Thye Woo, wrote, "Navigating China's Rise: Develop a Sustained, High-Level Trade Strategy." The authors recommended some strategies for the next president, including:

Equipping Americans to compete by investing in science, technology, infrastructure and education
Convincing Chinese officials to adjust the yuan through coordinated efforts that include partnerships with the International Monetary Fund and Group of Seven member nations
Shaping the environment in favor of the U.S. by forging relationships with Asian countries whose interests are in line with the U.S.

"The ascendancy of Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union at the beginning of the last century created mayhem, but the most important country to rise and prevail in the 20th century was the United States, which became the chief architect and upholder of a largely peaceful and prosperous international order," wrote Brainard and Woo. "Now, confronted with the ultimate need to make room for China, the United States should take actions that will encourage China to march onto the world stage responsibly, just as the United States did a century ago."

The Network

Brainard works at the Treasury under Secretary Timothy Geithner and with Deputy Secretary Neal S. Wolin. She is married to Kurt Campbell, Obama's assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

During the Clinton administration, Brainard was the deputy national economic adviser, working under then-NEC director Gene Sperling. Sperling advised Geithner for a time at the Obama Treasury Department.

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Campaign Contributions

Brainard has donated $16,000 to political causes since 2003, all to Democratic candidates. From 2005 to 2007, Brainard donated $6,400 to former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y). In 2008, Brainard gave $2,300 to Obama.

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