Leonard "Len" E. Burman (born 1953, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American economist, tax policy expert, and author. He is currently an institute fellow at the

Urban Institute The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and pr ...

, the Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, and a senior research associate at Syracuse University's Center for Policy Research. He is, with

Joel Slemrod Joel Brian Slemrod (born July 14, 1951) is an American economist and academic, currently serving as a professor of economics at the University of Michigan and the Paul W. McCracken Collegiate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at th ...

, the author of ''Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know.'' Burman is also a fellow of National Academy of Public Administration.

Education and early career

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Burman graduated Northeast High School in 1971. He received an A.B. in economics from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

in 1975 and received a Ph.D. in economics at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

in 1985.Leonard Burman Curriculum Vitae
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Career

Early career

Prior to graduate school, Burman was an economist with Data Resources, Inc. from 1975 to 1978. He served as an economics instructor at

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

from 1983 to 1985.

Treasury and Congressional Budget Office

Burman began his career in Washington as a financial economist with the

Office of Tax Policy The Office of Tax Policy is an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury headed by the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy. The Office assists the Secretary in developing and implementing tax policies and programs; prov ...

at the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

. During his time at Treasury, Burman worked on the design and implementation of the

Tax Reform Act of 1986 The Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA) was passed by the 99th United States Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 22, 1986. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was the top domestic priority of President Reagan's second term. The a ...

. After leaving Treasury in 1988, Burman served for over a decade as a senior economic analyst at the

Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. Inspired by California's Legislative Analyst's Office that manages ...

, writing reports on tax policy issues including the low-income housing credit, health reform, tax incentives for health and retirement, and the capital gains tax.

Clinton Administration

The Clinton administration brought Burman back to Treasury in 1998 to become the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Analysis, serving as the administration's top tax economist. Burman served in this post for two years. In 2000, Burman left the Clinton administration to become a senior fellow at the

. In 2002, Burman, along with other tax experts from the Reagan, Clinton, and Bush administrations, founded the

Tax Policy Center The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, typically shortened to the Tax Policy Center (TPC), is a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington D.C. A joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, it aims to provide independent ...

as a joint venture of the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ec ...

and the Urban Institute. Burman served as the inaugural director of the Tax Policy Center until 2009 and provided guidance on tax policy issues and proposals as a resident expert. The current director of the Tax Policy Center is Donald Marron.

Later career

Since leaving the Clinton administration in 2000, Burman has served in several posts in academia. Between 2000 and 2008, Burman was a visiting professor and lecturer at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute and a visiting professor at the

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

. Burman currently serves as the Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at

. He teaches classes on tax and social policy. In addition, Burman is a senior research associate at Syracuse University's Center for Policy Research, a research associate at the

National Bureau of Economic Research The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic c ...

, and an affiliated scholar at the Urban Institute. He is the immediate past-president of the

National Tax Association The National Tax Association - Tax Institute of America (NTA) is a US non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to the study and discussion of public taxation, spending, and borrowing decisions by governments around the world. Since its fou ...

, has served on the

Bipartisan Policy Center The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that promotes bipartisanship. The organization aims to combine ideas from both the Republican and Democratic parties to address challenges in the U.S. BPC focuses on iss ...

’
Debt Reduction Task Force
and currently serves on the board of th
Pew SubsidyScope Project
Burman blogs as ''The Impertinent Economist'' on Forbes.com and on the

’s blog
TaxVox
and has written over 120 articles on a wide range of tax and fiscal policy issues over a thirty-year span. His op-eds have appeared in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', and other publications. In addition, Burman has written or coedited three books including ''The Labyrinth of Capital Gains Tax Policy: A Guide for the Perplexed'' and ''Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to Know.''

Personal life

Burman is married to Melissa Burman, a former administrator at Georgetown University, and has four children, (Rob, Paul, Kent and Liz) and two grandchildren. He is an avid cyclist who biked across the country in 2004 with his son, Paul, to raise over $100,000 for

Partners In Health Partners In Health (PIH) is an international nonprofit public health organization founded in 1987 by Paul Farmer, Ophelia Dahl, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, and Jim Yong Kim. Partners in Health provides healthcare in the poorest areas of de ...

. He sings in the a cappella group, Polyhymnia, and is a former member of the Syracuse Oratorio Society, New Dominion Chorale, Arlington Metropolitan Chorus, and Androscoggin Chorale.https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/uploadedFiles/burmancv.pdf> He currently resides in

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burman, Leonard 1953 births Writers from Philadelphia Living people Brookings Institution people Wesleyan University alumni University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni Economists from Pennsylvania 21st-century American economists