Ben Harris (economist)

Harris is a native of Washington state, and was raised primarily on Bainbridge Island. He graduated from Bainbridge High School in 1995.[10]

He holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Washington University, which he earned in 2011, in addition to three master's degrees: an M.Phil. in economics from George Washington University in 2010, an M.A. in economics from Cornell University in 2005, and an M.A. in quantitative methods from Columbia University in 2003.

Harris earned his B.A. in economics from Tufts University in 1999. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Namibia in 2000.[11]

One of the earliest roles for Harris was as a senior economist with the Budget Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. He went on to serve as a research economist at the Brookings Institution, and later as the policy director of The Hamilton Project,[12] a fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, and deputy director of the Retirement Security Project at Brookings.

Between 2011 and 2013, 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. After leaving his first stint with the Obama administration, he served as a senior research associate with the Urban Institute and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

In December 2014, Harris returned to the White House when Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. tapped him to serve as his chief economist and economic advisor. He continued in that role through the end of the Obama administration in January 2017.

After leaving the White House, Harris went to work for Rokos Capital Management as a senior economic policy adviser.[13] He quickly made a transition back to academic and nonprofit work, serving as the chief economist to the evidence-based policy organization Results for America, chief editor of the Biden Forum,[6] and visiting associate professor at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. Currently, his primary positions are executive director of the Kellogg Public-Private Interface at Northwestern University, president of Cherrydale Strategies, in addition to his role with Results for America.

Harris, who has a prominent role in shaping the economic policy platforms of the Biden 2020 presidential campaign, has been identified as one of a select group of economists regularly advising Biden.[14][8][15] Harris was also named a member of the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force, serving as one of Biden's five delegates on the economic policy committee.[16][17]

In April 2020, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Harris will sit on the Chicago COVID-19 Recovery Task Force to advise city government as economic recovery planning efforts get underway in the wake of COVID-19.[18][19]

Throughout his career, Harris has taught at various institutions including the Kennedy School of Government, the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, and the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute.

He and his wife, Jessica Lynn, live in the Washington, D.C., area with their three daughters.