Research
Special Projects
Biden Administration International Affairs Personnel Tracker
Cecilia Rouse
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
Cecilia Rouse serves as Chair of Council of Economic Advisers since March 2, 2021. A well-known labor economist, Rouse is the dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Rouse served as one of three members of the Council of Economic Advisors under the Obama administration from 2009 to 2011 and on President Bill Clinton’s National Economic Council from 1998 to 1999. Rouse received a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Harvard University in 1986 and a PhD in economics in 1992.
On China
On April 6, 2021, Rouse said the United States must invest heavily to keep up and ensure the leadership of its economy, citing the need to compete with China.
Rouse leads the CEA to provide President Biden with research- and data-based economic advice. Trade and economic relationships between U.S. and China will likely play a significant role in Biden’s economic policy. Some economists noted that Rouse and the team she led have limited expertise in international issues. On the other hand, Rouse’s expertise in labor might contribute to Biden’s approach to Xinjiang issues.
On Trade
According to a 2019 article, Rouse told Worth: “There is a lot of research responding to this administration’s posture. Our profession has a lot of support for globalization and open markets, and this administration’s posture is almost that that’s not true. I think we needed to stop and say: ‘Well yes, with open trade there are winners and losers.’ I think it’s opened the profession to realize that the losers are really losing, and we need to take care of them and take on more nuanced models of international trade as a result.”
Page Last Updated: August 2, 2021
*None of the personnel in this tracker are associated with the Institute for China-America Studies. All images used on this page are sourced from the official Biden-Harris transition website buildbackbetter.gov or the public domain.*
