Speaker biographies

Eric G. Altbach serves as vice president for economic and trade affairs at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). Prior to joining NBR, he held a variety of government positions relating to Asian economic and trade issues, most recently as deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for China affairs. Mr. Altbach has worked at the National Security Council (NSC) as director for Asian economic affairs and acting director for Southeast Asian affairs. At the NSC, he played a role in interagency coordination of U.S. trade and economic policy for China, Japan, Korea, and South and Southeast Asia. He was also responsible for White House preparations for the president’s participation in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meetings in Santiago, Chile and Busan, South Korea. Mr. Altbach also served in a number of positions at the U.S. Department of State, including as senior economic analyst for Japan and Korea. He was a visiting lecturer in Asian politics at Tufts University in 1996–97. His areas of professional expertise include U.S.-Chinese and U.S.-Taiwanese trade relations, Japanese political economy and U.S.-Japanese relations, U.S.–South Korean trade relations, U.S. economic policy toward Asia, and East Asian regional issues.

Desmond Lachman first joined AEI as a resident fellow after serving as a managing director and chief emerging market economic strategist at Salomon Smith Barney. He previously served as deputy director in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Policy and Review Department and was active in staff formulation of IMF policies toward emerging markets. Mr. Lachman has written on topics like the U.S. housing market bubble, the dollar crisis, challenges to the Federal Reserve, and IMF and World Bank reform. His most recent book, Challenges to the Swedish Welfare State (IMF, 1995), assesses how current economic developments will affect the welfare system in the future.

Philip I. Levy studies international trade and development at AEI. Before joining AEI, he handled international economic issues as a member of the secretary of state’s policy planning staff (2005–2006), was senior economist for trade on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (2003–2005), and was a faculty member in Yale University’s Department of Economics (1994–2003). An economist by training, he has experience in many international trade and development policy issues, including free trade agreements, trade with China, antidumping policy, welfare effects of globalization, U.S. foreign assistance policy, and economic development policy.

Patrick A. Mulloy was appointed to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in 2007. He had previously served as a member of the commission from 2001 to 2006. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities, Mr. Mulloy was assistant secretary for market access and compliance in the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration from 1998 to 2001. He was also a member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Mr. Mulloy previously held senior positions on the staff of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, including chief international counsel and general counsel. Before joining the Senate, he was a senior attorney in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, supervising participation by U.S. oil companies in the International Energy Agency. Mr. Mulloy began his public service career as a foreign service officer. He is currently the Washington representative of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and an adjunct professor of international trade law at the law schools of both Catholic University and George Mason University. He periodically lectures on trade and financial matters at the National Defense University’s Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Randal K. Quarles is managing director of the Carlyle Group, where he works on transactions in the global financial services sector. Before joining Carlyle, Mr. Quarles was under secretary of the treasury, where he led the department’s activities in financial sector and capital markets policy, including coordination of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, development of administration policy on hedge funds and derivatives, regulatory reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, developing policy on terrorism risk insurance, and proposing fundamental reform of the U.S. financial regulatory structure. Before serving as under secretary, Mr. Quarles was assistant secretary of the treasury for international affairs, in which capacity he was responsible for a wide range of international financial matters, focusing particularly on financial structure and stability, cross-border investment and financial regulation, and promotion of free trade in financial services. He led the financial regulatory dialogue between the United States and the European Union; was policy chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews inbound investments that raise national security issues; led the U.S. delegation to the Financial Stability Forum; and negotiated the financial services provisions of several free trade agreements. Mr. Quarles was also the U.S. executive director of the International Monetary Fund, a board member of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and board representative for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

Edwin M. Truman, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since 2001, served as assistant secretary of the treasury for international affairs from December 1998 to January 2001. He directed the Division of International Finance of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1977 to 1998. From 1983 to 1998, he was one of three economists on the staff of the Federal Open Market Committee. Mr. Truman has been a member of numerous international groups working on economic and financial issues, including the Financial Stability Forum’s Working Group on Highly Leveraged Institutions (1999–2000), G22 Working Party on Transparency and Accountability (1998), G10-sponsored Working Party on Financial Stability in Emerging Market Economies (1996–97), G10 Working Group on the Resolution of Sovereign Liquidity Crises (1995–96), and G7 Working Group on Exchange Market Intervention (1982–83). He has published on international monetary economics, international debt problems, economic development, and European economic integration. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of Reforming the IMF for the 21st Century (Peterson Institute, 2006), A Strategy for IMF Reform (Peterson Institute, 2006), Chasing Dirty Money: The Fight Against Money Laundering (Peterson Institute, 2004), and Inflation Targeting in the World Economy (Peterson Institute, 2003).

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