Speaker Biographies

Claude Barfield is a resident scholar and the director of trade, science, and technology policy studies at AEI. He is the author or editor of a number of books on trade and science policy, including Free Trade, Sovereignty, Democracy: The Future of the World Trade Organization (AEI Press, 2001). In 1999, he coauthored Tiger by the Tail: China and the World Trade Organization (AEI Press) with Mark Groombridge. Before coming to AEI, he served in the Ford administration, on the staff of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and as a co-staff director of the President's Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties.

Simon J. Evenett is a professor of international trade and economic development at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. In addition to his research into the determinants of international commercial flows, Mr. Evenett is particularly interested in the relationships between international trade policy, national competition law and policy, and economic development. He has also been a non-resident senior fellow of the Economic Studies Programme of the Brookings Institution. Previously, he taught at Oxford University and Rutgers University, and served twice as a World Bank official.

James K. Glassman is a resident fellow at AEI, where he specializes in issues involving economics and financial markets. In addition, he is host and co-founder of TechCentralStation.com, a for-profit website that concentrates on matters of technology and public policy. In September 2004, Mr. Glassman launched a new organization, Investors Action, for which he serves as chairman. Investors Action aims to educate America’s 90 million investors and represent their interests in the public-policy arena. Mr. Glassman also writes a weekly op-ed column on economic and political topics for the Scripps Howard News Service, and a monthly column on investing for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. His most recent book, The Secret Code of the Superior Investor (Crown, 2002) was named one of the top ten investing books of 2002 by Barron’s. Between July 1993 and July 2004, Mr. Glassman wrote an internationally syndicated weekly column on investing for the Washington Post. From 1987 to 1993, he was editor and part-owner of Roll Call, the twice-weekly newspaper that covers Congress. Prior to that, he had a long career in magazine publishing—as president of the Atlantic Monthly, executive vice president of U.S. News & World Report, and publisher of The New Republic. In 1972, he started Figaro, a New Orleans weekly newspaper, which he sold in 1979. He served as executive editor of Washingtonian magazine from 1979 to 1981.

Gawain Kripke is a senior policy advisor on international trade issues with Oxfam America, based in Washington, D.C.  He directs the policy work of the organization's Make Trade Fair campaign, which aims to change unfair trade rules so that international trade can become a powerful force for reducing global poverty.  Mr. Kripke has authored numerous opinion pieces and briefing papers on trade and development issues.  He has testified before Congress and appears frequently on radio and television programs, including Marketplace, CNN, National Public Radio, and BBC World News.  Prior to joining Oxfam, Mr. Kripke served as director of economic programs for the environmental organization, Friends of the Earth. 

Thea Lee is policy director at the AFL-CIO, where she oversees research and strategies on domestic and international economic policy. Previously, she worked as an international trade economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. and as an editor at Dollars & Sense magazine in Boston. Ms. Lee is co-author of A Field Guide to the Global Economy (2005), published by the New Press. Her research projects include reports on the North American Free Trade Agreement, the impact of international trade on U.S. wage inequality, and the domestic steel and textile industries. She has testified before several committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate on various trade topics. Ms. Lee serves on several advisory committees, including the State Department Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and the Export-Import Bank Advisory Committee. She is also on the board of directors of the Worker Rights Consortium, United for a Fair Economy, and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Phillip L. Swagel is a resident scholar at AEI. Before joining AEI in March 2005, he was the chief of staff of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He has previously been a senior economist at the Council, a visiting assistant professor at Northwestern University, and an economist at the Federal Reserve Board and the International Monetary Fund. He has written on international trade policy, the political economy of the welfare state, and most recently on Social Security.