Dr. Chad P. Bown

Chad P. Bown was sworn-in as Chief Economist on January 29, 2024. Dr. Bown’s research examines international trade laws and institutions, trade negotiations, and trade disputes. He has written extensively on industrial policy, supply chains, trade policy enforcement, and worked tirelessly to promote transparency in international trade and trade policy enforcement. Dr. Bown served as a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since 2016 and prior to that, as a lead economist at the World Bank, advising governments on international trade policy. He was a tenured professor of economics at Brandeis University and on the faculty for twelve years, and he served on the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2010-2011. Dr. Bown has collaborated with leading institutions including the World Bank to increase transparency around trade policies and trade barriers. He has published extensively in leading economic journals, and authored or edited several books, including Self-Enforcing Trade: Developing Countries and WTO Dispute Settlement, The Great Recession and Import Protection: The Role of Temporary Trade Barriers , and The Law, Economics, and Politics of Retaliation in WTO Dispute Settlement. Dr. Bown is a fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has published columns in major publications including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, and Harvard Business Review. Dr. Bown also hosted the podcast Trade Talks, demystifying the economics of international trade and policy for a wider audience. Dr. Bown received his B.A. with honors in economics and international relations from Bucknell University and earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.