Jeffrey Liebman


Jeffrey B. Liebman is an American economist who served as the executive associate director and chief economist and then as the acting deputy director for policy of the Office of Management and Budget within the Obama Administration. During the 2008 Presidential Campaign he served as a top economic advisor to the presidential campaign of Democratic Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.
Liebman is the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy and serves as the Director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, and Social Impact Bond Technical Assistance Lab, all at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a member of the Academic Advisory Committee, Center for American Progress.
He teaches courses in social policy, public sector economics, and American economic policy. His research includes tax and budget policy, social insurance, poverty, and income inequality. Recently he has examined the impacts of government programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, Social Security, and housing vouchers. From 1998 to 1999 he served as Special Assistant to the President for economic policy and coordinated the Clinton Administration's Social Security reform technical working group.

Education

Liebman received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1996 and a B.A. magna cum laude, with distinction in Economics and Political Science, from Yale University in 1989.

Family

His father, Lance Liebman, is a professor at Columbia Law School and the former director of the American Law Institute. His mother is Carol B. Liebman, a professor of clinical law at Columbia Law School. His brother is Benjamin L. Liebman, a professor of Chinese law at Columbia Law School.