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Donald Marron

Donald Marron is an economist in the Washington, DC area. He currently speaks, writes, and consults about economic, budget, and financial issues.

From 2002 to early 2009, he served in various senior positions in the White House and Congress including: * Member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) * Acting Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) * Executive Director of Congress’s Joint Economic Committee (JEC)

Before his government service, Donald had a varied career as a professor, consultant, and entrepreneur. In the mid-1990s, he taught economics and finance at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He then spent about a year-and-a-half managing large antitrust cases (e.g., Pepsi vs. Coke) at Charles River Associates in Washington, DC. After that, he took the plunge into the world of new ventures, serving as Chief Financial Officer of a health care software start-up in Austin, TX. After that fascinating experience, he started his career in public service.

Donald received his Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his B.A. in Mathematics a couple miles down the road at Harvard.

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Donald Marron's Latest Articles | 183

What’s the Best Voting System?

Jul 23, 2010| 2

Last February I highlighted a New Yorker piece about instant runoff voting (IRV) in awarding the Oscar for Best Picture. (Kudos to author Hendrik Hertzberg for correctly... Read »

A New Low in Home Construction

Jul 21, 2010| 

Yesterday’s housing data were suitably glum, with single-family starts and permits both down (0.7% and 3.4%, respectively). And what about my favorite metric,... Read »

The End of Cap and Trade?

Jul 13, 2010| 

No, not for carbon. For sulfur dioxide. As noted by Mark Peters at the Wall Street Journal: The original U.S. cap-and-trade market, which succeeded in slashing the... Read »

The Rise and Fall of World House Prices

Jun 29, 2010| 

The Bank for International Settlements has a great chart of house prices in its latest annual report (p. 39): The rise and fall of U.S. house prices (red) is painfully... Read »

Afghanistan and the Resource Curse

Jun 14, 2010| 

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the United States has identified “vast mineral riches in Afghanistan“: The United States has discovered nearly $1... Read »

Consumer Spending Makes Up Only 60% of the Economy

May 28, 2010| 

Journalists, commentators, and economists often say that consumer spending makes up 70% of the U.S. economy. Indeed, it’s easy to find several examples of that... Read »

What Should We Do with Fannie and Freddie?

May 23, 2010| 

The past few years have demonstrated that Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE), the two mortgage giants, were built on a flawed business model. One that paired... Read »

How Would You Tame the Debt?

May 20, 2010| 1

Show of hands, please: Do you think you can do a better job with the federal budget than our leaders in Washington? OK everyone, put your hands down. And put that... Read »

Large Financing Needs in 2010

May 16, 2010| 

The International Monetary Fund released its latest Fiscal Monitor last week. As expected, the headline message was quite grim for the advanced economies, many of... Read »

Advice to Nasdaq and the NYSE: Cancel Only 90% of the “Erroneous” Trades

May 9, 2010| 

Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange have both announced that they will cancel many trades made during the temporary market meltdown between 2:40 and 3:00 last... Read »

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