109th Annual Conference Keynote Speakers

Olivier Blanchard

Olivier Blanchard

Olivier Blanchard

Olivier Blanchard joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics as the first C. Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow in October 2015. A citizen of France, Blanchard has spent most of his professional life in Cambridge, MA. After obtaining his PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1977, he taught at Harvard University, and returned to MIT in 1982. He was chair of the economics department from 1998 to 2003. In 2008, he took a leave of absence to be the economic counselor and director of the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund. He remains Robert M. Solow Professor of Economics emeritus at MIT.

Antonio Weiss

Antonio Weiss

Antonio Weiss

Antonio Weiss is Counselor to the Secretary of the US Treasury, serving since January, 2015. He advises on a broad range of domestic and international issues, including financial markets, regulatory reform, job creation, and fostering broad-based economic growth. He was previously global head of investment banking for Lazard, an independent global financial advisory and asset management firm. Mr. Weiss earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale College and an M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar and Loeb Fellow.