Keynote

John B. Taylor,
Under Secretary for International Affairs,
U.S. Treasury Department

John B. Taylor has served as Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs since June 1, 2001. As Under Secretary, he serves as principal advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on international economic issues. He leads the development and implementation of policies in the areas of international finance, trade in financial services, investment, economic development, international debt, and U.S. participation in the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the other multilateral development banks (including the Inter-American Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Taylor also coordinates financial market policy with the G-7 industrial nations and is Chair of the Working Party on international macroeconomics at the OECD.

As Under Secretary, Taylor has made approximately 110 trips to foreign countries including post-conflict countries-such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Liberia-where he has been the senior Treasury official for planning and implementation of economic and financial reforms. He was recently awarded the Treasury Distinguished Service Award for his work on financial reconstruction efforts. His office overseas technical assistance teams deployed to advise central banks and finance ministries in over 50 countries. Taylor's previous government experience includes serving as senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers from 1976 to 1977; member of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1989 to 1991; and member of the California Governor's Council of Economic Advisers from 1996 to 1998. Taylor also served as a member of the Congressional Budget Office's Panel of Economic Advisers.

Before becoming Under Secretary, Taylor was the Roberts Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He is a globally recognized expert on international monetary and financial issues and has produced extensive research on monetary policy, fiscal policy, and international economic policy. He regularly taught the introductory economics course for undergraduates--the most popular course at Stanford--as well as advanced Ph.D. courses. In 1992 he received the Hoagland Prize awarded annually to a faculty member for excellence in undergraduate teaching. In 1997 he was awarded the Rhodes Prize for his high teaching ratings in Stanford's introductory economics course. Before joining the Stanford faculty in 1984, he held positions as professor of economics at Princeton University and Columbia University.

Taylor has also served as Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution; Director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research; Director of the Stanford Introductory Economics Center; and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Born on December 8, 1946 in Yonkers, New York, Taylor received a B.A. in economics summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1968 and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 1973.

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