Jason Furman
A pragmatic economic architect who helped steer the U.S. recovery from the Great Recession as a top Obama adviser.
Born 1970 (age 56)·American economist and political adviser·Birthday: August 18·Generation X
Biography
Jason Furman operates at the intersection of high-level economic theory and the gritty reality of policy-making. A professor at Harvard's Kennedy School, his career is defined by a practical, data-driven approach to economics that often put him at the center of crisis response. He cut his teeth in the Clinton administration before becoming a key economic advisor for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Once in the White House, Furman played a crucial role in crafting the policy response to the Great Recession, advocating for stimulus measures while serving as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. His influence peaked when Obama appointed him Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, where he helped analyze everything from healthcare to wage stagnation. Furman's voice carries weight because he blends academic rigor with a clear-eyed understanding of political constraints, often challenging orthodoxies within his own party to focus on what he sees as workable solutions for middle-class economics.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Jason was born in 1970, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Jason Was Born
The biggest hits of 1970
#1 Movie
Love Story
Best Picture
Patton
#1 TV Show
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Jason's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1970Born
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1975Started school
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1983Became a teenager
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1986Could drive
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1988Could vote
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1991Turned 21
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
2000Turned 30
Y2K passes without incident; contested Bush-Gore election
Gas: $1.51/galHome: $119,600Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Breathe" — Faith HillBest Picture: Gladiator
2010Turned 40
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
2020Turned 50
COVID-19 pandemic shuts down the world
Gas: $2.17/galHome: $248,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Blinding Lights" — The WeekndBest Picture: Nomadland
2026Age 56 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Served as the 28th Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017.
- Was a principal architect of the economic policy agenda for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
- Played a key advisory role in the development and passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
- Has served as a professor of economic practice at the Harvard Kennedy School since leaving government.
Did You Know?
He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Before working for Obama, he served as a staff economist on President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers.
He is a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
He studied at Harvard University for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees.
““The goal of economic policy is not to have a good economy; the goal is to have a good society.””
