Heather Boushey and Todd Tucker join Malcolm Wiener Center and the Reimagining the Economy Project as senior research fellows

Heather Boushey is an economist who served on the Council of Economic Advisers and President Biden’s Invest in America Cabinet. A political scientist, Todd Tucker is director of Industrial Policy and Trade at the Roosevelt Institute.

Boushey helped guide Biden’s industrial policy agenda, which included the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS & Science Act as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist for the Invest in America Cabinet. Boushey also served as chief economist for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential transition team.

Boushey co-founded the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, serving as president and CEO until she joined the Biden-Harris transition team in 2020. She previously worked at the Center for American Progress, the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and the Economic Policy Institute.

In her research, Boushey examines the intersection of economic inequality, growth, and public policy. She has authored two books and co-edited a volume of essays. She earned her Ph.D. from The New School for Social Research and her B.A. from Hampshire College.

At the Harvard Kennedy School, Boushey will be reflecting on her work with the Biden administration and looking toward the future of the U.S. economy: “Over the past four years, we implemented a new, modern American industrial strategy through investing in infrastructure and crowding in capacity-expanding, productivity-enhancing investments across the United States, educating and empowering American workers, and shaping markets to be fair and competitive both at home and in global trade,” Boushey said. “What did we accomplish, what went well, what needs to be improved, and where do we go from here?”

Tucker is a prolific political scientist specializing in trade and political economy. Legislatures and committees around the world have turned to him for expert testimony. He authored “Judge Knot: Politics and Development in International Investment Law,” has published dozens of academic articles and book chapters, and has written more than 70 policy reports.

Tucker previously served as a member of the Biden-Harris transition team and as a professor at Johns Hopkins University and the University of New Hampshire. He also worked as the research director for Public Citizen and has helped guide international research agendas for various think tanks and organizations.

Tucker holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, and a B.A. from George Washington University.

Tucker’s work at HKS will examine whether and how democratic institutions can effectively weather the climate crisis. “We know from the work of Reimagining the Economy scholars such as Dani Rodrik and Gordon Hanson how trade shocks and agreements can destabilize and polarize domestic politics,” said Tucker. “We are on the cusp of even greater displacements from the energy transition in the 21st century, but with American political institutions dating to as far back as the 18th. Will our political systems adapt or be overwhelmed by serial natural and economic disasters and the populisms these can empower?”