Adam Lerrick is an American economist and government official currently serving as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury, having previously been President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's nominee for

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury A United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury is one of several positions in the United States Department of the Treasury, serving under the United States Secretary of the Treasury. History According to U.S. statute, there are eight Assista ...

for International Finance. Lerrick has served as an economist at the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. ...

Education

Lerrick received his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in economics from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He graduated summa cum laude and with

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

honors. He was also awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in economics and was an Institute Scholar there.

Career

Lerrick was Advisor on International Economic Policy to the

Majority Leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

of the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

from 2001 to 2003. He was also Advisor on International Economic Policy to the Congressional

Joint Economic Committee The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) is one of four standing joint committees of the U.S. Congress. The committee was established as a part of the Employment Act of 1946, which deemed the committee responsible for reporting the current economic co ...

from 2001 to 2007 and the senior adviser to the chairman of the

International Financial Institution Advisory Commission The International Financial Institution Advisory Commission, also known as the Meltzer Commission — named for its chair, Professor Allan Meltzer — was established by the United States Congress in November 1998 "to recommend future US policy towa ...

, which focused its efforts on the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

. In 2004, Lerrick acted as leader of the negotiations team of the individual bondholders in the

Argentine debt restructuring The Argentine debt restructuring is a process of debt restructuring by Argentina that began on January 14, 2005, and allowed it to resume payment on 76% of the US$82 billion in sovereign bonds that defaulted in 2001 at the depth of the worst ...

negotiations regarding a default by Argentina on its $110 billion debt held by the IMF. Lerrick is credited with devising a plan to provide representation of those individual bondholders in the face of concern that retail investors would be partial the IMF and its large institutional investors. Lerrick was an emeritus professor at Carnegie Mellon University, where he also held the position of the "Friends of Allan H. Meltzer Chair in Economics" from 2001 to 2010. On March 14, 2017,

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

announced his intent to nominate Lerrick for Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Finance. Once confirmed, Lerrick was expected to report to

David Malpass David Robert Malpass (born March 8, 1956) is an American economic analyst and former government official serving as President of the World Bank Group since 2019. Malpass previously served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affa ...

, who is the

Under Secretary for International Affairs The Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs is a senior position within the United States Department of the Treasury responsible for advising the Secretary of the Treasury on international economic issues. During the Trump Admin ...

in the United States Department of the Treasury. On May 10, 2018, President Trump withdrew Lerrick's nomination over concerns regarding his financial disclosures, specifically special purpose vehicles set up by Lerrick in Ireland to hold the restructured bonds of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. From September 2018 to May 2019, Lerrick served as Acting United States Executive Director of the

. In June 2019, he was appointed as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury.

Policy positions

Lerrick has been called a "creative thinker in the world of sovereign debt crises," particularly in connection with his criticism of government bailouts by the IMF. Starting in the late 1990s, he became a critic of the IMF's handling of currency runs in Southeast Asian countries, also writing a paper arguing that U.S. taxpayer funds could be saved if the IMF were able to rely on international bond market funds instead of looking only to major nation creditors, such as the United States.

Works

Research publications

* Lerrick, A. and Meltzer, A.H., 2003. Blueprint for an international lender of last resort. ''Journal of Monetary Economics'', ''50''(1), pp. 289–303. * Lerrick, A. and Meltzer, A.H., 2001. Beyond IMF bailouts: Default without disruption. ''Quarterly International Economics Report''. * Lerrick, A. and Meltzer, A., 2002. Grants: A better way to deliver aid. ''Quarterly International Economics Report'', ''1''. * Lerrick, A. and Meltzer, A.H., 2002. Sovereign Default: The Private Sector Can Resolve Bankruptcy without a Formal Court. ''Quarterly International Economics Report''. * Lerrick, A., 2005. Aid to africa at risk: Covering up corruption. ''International Economics Report''. * Lerrick, A., 2003. Funding the IMF: How Much Does It Really Cost. ''Quarterly International Economics Report''.

Books

* Lerrick, A., 1999. ''Private Sector Financing for the IMF: Now Part of an Optimal Funding Mix''. Washington, DC: Bretton Woods Committee.

References

External links

Biography
U.S. Department of the Treasury {{DEFAULTSORT:Lerrick, Adam Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Princeton University alumni MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni Carnegie Mellon University faculty American Enterprise Institute 21st-century American economists Trump administration personnel United States Department of the Treasury officials