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Economic policy and media come together when Ben Harris and Steve Forbes engage in an enlivened discussion of financial issues facing Americans today.
Ben Harris leverages his experience as Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and Chief Economist with the U.S. Treasury Department (2014-2017) to speak to topics such as the macroeconomic economic outlook, Biden Administration policy, global energy markets, and Congressional negotiations. As the Treasury Department’s chief economist, Ben Harris’ focus was on macroeconomics and the economy’s general outlook – both with regards to international volatility and the impact on American consumers. As the current Vice President and Director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, Harris has been regularly cited on the impacts, opportunities, and challenges of policy agendas impacting Americans daily, such as retirement policy.
Media titan Steve Forbes leads the most successful business news magazine in America. With the economy at the forefront of conversation on a global level, Mr. Forbes offers long-standing insights that capitalism, free markets, and a flat tax are essential to a healthy economy. Throughout his tenure, his keen ability to provide economic insights on the big issues of the day has been trusted by business leaders around the world and regular Americans looking for the answers to their big questions.
By combining Harris’s long tenure in the public sector with Forbes’s unmatched knowledge of business news, audiences will gain a new perspective on the policy, publication, and perspectives governing our global markets.
Prominent economist and author Ben Harris is Vice President and Director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. Harris recently served as Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and Chief Economist with the U.S. Treasury Department. In this role, Harris was a close adviser to Secretary Yellen, the Administration’s lead official on the price cap on Russian oil, and a key staffer in the development of the Build Back Better legislation. Harris has been a long-time advisor to President Biden, serving as his chief economist in the Obama White House and acting as the senior economic advisor to the Biden campaign. The New York Times called him "the quiet architect of Biden's plan to rescue the economy." Harris has been sought-after for speaking events at the Argus European Crude Conference, MIT Sloan Business School, Harvard Kenney School, American Enterprise Institute, among many others.
Prior to joining Treasury, Harris was the Executive Director of the Kellogg Public-Private Initiative and a research associate professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, in addition to serving as the chief economist to the evidence-based policy organization Results for America. Harris recently published The Retirement Challenge with Martin N. Bailey, addressing some of the most vexing problems facing the American retirement system. Harris has also published a variety of academic papers and policy briefs related to topics in public finance and has been regularly cited in media reports related to fiscal policy. His op-eds have been widely published, including frequent publication in the Wall Street Journal. Earlier in his career, he was the policy director of The Hamilton Project, a fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, and deputy director of the Retirement Security Project.
Covering a wide variety of key topics, Harris is an expert on such timely topics as the macroeconomic economic outlook, Biden Administration policy, global energy markets and the price cap on Russian oil, the debt ceiling, and Congressional negotiations.
Steve Forbes is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, and an internationally respected authority in the worlds of economics, finance, and corporate leadership. With the economy at the forefront of conversation on a global level, Mr. Forbes offers long-standing insights that capitalism, free markets, and a flat tax are essential to a healthy economy. This is a message Mr. Forbes has been delivering as editor of one of the world’s most successful business magazines for decades, and he continues to be one of the most sought-after speakers on this and other economic issues leading the economic debates around the world.
Ben Harris completed a stint as Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and Chief Economist with the U.S. Treasury Department in March 2023. In this role, Harris was a close adviser to Secretary Yellen, the Administration’s lead official on the price cap on Russian oil, and a key staffer in the development of the Build Back Better legislation.
Prior to joining Treasury, Harris was the Executive Director of the Kellogg Public-Private Initiative and a research associate professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, in addition to serving as the chief economist to the evidence-based policy organization Results for America. He was also the senior advisor to the Biden campaign, where he was a lead contributor to the development of the Biden platform and featured surrogate for economic issues. He recently published a book titled The Retirement Challenge, with Martin N. Bailey, addressing some of the most vexing problems facing the American retirement system.
Earlier in his career, he served as the chief economist and economic adviser to then-Vice President Joe Biden, was the policy director of The Hamilton Project, a fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, and deputy director of the Retirement Security Project.
In addition, Harris was a senior research associate with the Urban Institute and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Prior to joining the Urban Institute, Harris worked at the White House as a senior economist with the Council of Economic Advisers, where he specialized in fiscal policy and retirement security. He has also served as a research economist at the Brookings Institution and as a senior economist with the Budget Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Harris has also taught as an adjunct professor at the policy schools at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University.
Harris' has published a variety of academic papers and policy briefs related to topics in public finance and has been regularly cited in media reports related to fiscal policy. His op-eds have been widely published, including frequent publication in the Wall Street Journal.
He holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Washington University, in addition to a master's degree in economics from Cornell University and a master's degree in quantitative methods from Columbia University. He earned his BA in economics at Tufts University. In 2000, Harris was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Namibia.
Steve is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media.
His new book, which he co-authored with Nathan Lewis and Elizabeth Ames, is entitled Inflation: What It Is, Why It’s Bad, and How To Fix It.
Steve broadcasts a popular webcast called What’s Ahead, where he gives insightful analyses of events as well as engaging the world’s leading newsmakers, politicians and pioneers in business and economics in captivating conversations.
He helped create the highly acclaimed and award-winning documentary In Money We Trust? which was produced under the auspices of Maryland Public Television. The film was inspired by the book he co-wrote, Money. He was executive producer of the new, highly acclaimed documentary Coolidge: Rediscovering an American President. He also recently launched a series on the educational website Izzit.org/Forbes that presents inspirational stories and lessons from history’s greatest innovators—many largely forgotten—whose achievements have shaped modern life.
Steve writes editorials for each issue of Forbes under the heading of “Fact and Comment.”
A widely respected economic prognosticator, he is the only writer to have won the highly prestigious "Crystal Owl Award" four times for the accuracy of his economic forecasts.
In 1996 and 2000, Steve campaigned vigorously for the Republican nomination for the presidency. Key to his platform were a flat tax, medical savings accounts, a stable dollar, a new Social System for working Americans, parental choice of schools for their children, term limits and a strong national defense. He continues to energetically promote this agenda.
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