Advisory Council

Karen Dynan

Vice President & Co-Director of Economic Studies, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

Karen Dynan is vice president, co-director of Economic Studies, and the Robert S. Kerr Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.  She is an expert on macroeconomic policy and household finance issues.  Prior to joining Brookings, Dynan served on the staff of the Federal Reserve Board for 17 years, most recently as a senior adviser.  While at the Fed, she played a leadership role in a number of areas, including macroeconomic forecasting, analysis of household and real estate finance conditions, and the policy response to the financial crisis.  She also served as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 2003-2004.

Dynan’s research focuses on consumer spending and saving decisions, household credit use, household financial security, foreclosure prevention, and the effects of financial innovation on economic dynamics. Her papers have been published in top economics journals, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Journal of Economic Perspectives.  Dynan has published opinion pieces in the Washington Post and Financial Times and has written for policy publications such as Stanford University’s Pathways and the Milken Institute Review.