{{Short description|American economist and government official}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Adam Lerrick | image = Adam Lerrick.jpg | office1 = Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury | term_start1 = June 2019 | occupation = Economist | education = Princeton University {{small|(B.A.)}} <br>Massachusetts Institute of Technology {{small|(Ph.D.)}} }} '''Adam Lerrick''' is an American economist and politician who served as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury, and was previously Donald Trump's nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Finance.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/14/president-donald-j-trump-announces-intent-nominate-key-administration|title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Key Administration Posts|date=2017-03-14|access-date=2017-04-06|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bankingjournal.aba.com/2017/03/trump-fills-out-financial-team-with-treasury-cftc-nominations/|title=Trump Fills Out Financial Team with Treasury, CFTC Nominations|last=|first=|date=15 March 2017|website=bankingjournal.aba.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-04-03}}</ref> Lerrick is also an economist at the American Enterprise Institute.<ref name=":0" />

== Education == Lerrick received his Bachelor of Arts in economics from Princeton University. He graduated summa cum laude and with Phi Beta Kappa honors. He was also awarded a Doctor of Philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in economics and was an Institute Scholar there.<ref name=":0" />

== Career == Lerrick was Advisor on International Economic Policy to the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress from 2001 to 2003. He was also Advisor on International Economic Policy to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee from 2001 to 2007<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hazliseconomist.com/en/past_speakerCV/Lerrick_Adam|title=Economist Conferences - Greece|last=|first=|date=|website=www.economist.com|access-date=2017-04-03}}</ref> and the senior adviser to the chairman of the International Financial Institution Advisory Commission, which focused its efforts on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.banking.senate.gov/00_04hrg/042700/lerrick.htm|title=Testimony -- Lerrick|website=www.banking.senate.gov|access-date=2017-04-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415201225/https://www.banking.senate.gov/00_04hrg/042700/lerrick.htm|archive-date=2017-04-15|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2004, Lerrick acted as leader of the negotiations team of the individual bondholders in the Argentine debt restructuring negotiations regarding a default by Argentina on its $110 billion debt held by the IMF.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-108shrg24909/html/CHRG-108shrg24909.htm|title=Argentina's Financial Crisis|last=|first=|date=|website=www.gpo.gov|access-date=2017-04-03}}</ref> Lerrick is credited with devising a plan to provide representation of those individual bondholders in the face of concern that retail investors would be partial the IMF and its large institutional investors.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB105268606116922300|title=HVB to Aid Holders Of Argentina's Debt|last=Walker|first=Marcus|date=2003-05-12|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2017-04-03|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

Lerrick was an emeritus professor at Carnegie Mellon University, where he also held the position of the "Friends of Allan H. Meltzer Chair in Economics" from 2001 to 2010.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/5ce8c390-1306-11e7-80f4-13e067d5072c|title=Critic of World Bank and IMF eyed for key role at Treasury|last=|first=|date=27 March 2017|newspaper=Financial Times|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-04-03}}</ref>

On March 14, 2017, Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Lerrick for Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Finance. Once confirmed, Lerrick was expected to report to David Malpass, who is the Under Secretary for International Affairs in the United States Department of the Treasury.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/19/business/dealbook/adam-lerrick-imf-trump-treasury.html|title=Choice of I.M.F. Critic Highlights Trump's Reversal of Global Policy|last=Thomas|first=Landon Jr.|date=2017-03-19|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-04-03|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> On May 10, 2018, President Trump withdrew Lerrick's nomination over concerns regarding his financial disclosures, specifically special purpose vehicles set up by Lerrick in Ireland to hold the restructured bonds of Argentina.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/10/adam-lerrick-trump-treasury-nominee-withdraws-579982|title=Trump Treasury nominee withdraws amid concern over finances|work=POLITICO|access-date=2018-07-27|language=en}}</ref>

From September 2018 to May 2019, Lerrick served as Acting United States Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund.<ref name="TreasuryBio"/> In June 2019, he was appointed as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury.<ref name="TreasuryBio">{{cite web | title=Adam Lerrick | url=https://home.treasury.gov/about/general-information/officials/adam-lerrick | work=U.S. Department of the Treasury | access-date=April 22, 2020 | archive-date=May 1, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501162503/https://home.treasury.gov/about/general-information/officials/adam-lerrick | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Policy positions == Lerrick has been called a "creative thinker in the world of sovereign debt crises," particularly in connection with his criticism of government bailouts by the IMF.<ref name=":1" /> Starting in the late 1990s, he became a critic of the IMF's handling of currency runs in Southeast Asian countries, also writing a paper arguing that U.S. taxpayer funds could be saved if the IMF were able to rely on international bond market funds instead of looking only to major nation creditors, such as the United States.<ref name=":2" />

== Works ==

=== Research publications === * Lerrick, A. and Meltzer, A.H., 2003. Blueprint for an international lender of last resort. ''Journal of Monetary Economics'', ''50''(1), pp.&nbsp;289–303. * Lerrick, A. and Meltzer, A.H., 2001. Beyond IMF bailouts: Default without disruption. ''Quarterly International Economics Report''. * Lerrick, A. and Meltzer, A., 2002. Grants: A better way to deliver aid. ''Quarterly International Economics Report'', ''1''. * Lerrick, A. and Meltzer, A.H., 2002. Sovereign Default: The Private Sector Can Resolve Bankruptcy without a Formal Court. ''Quarterly International Economics Report''. * Lerrick, A., 2005. Aid to Africa at risk: Covering up corruption. ''International Economics Report''. * Lerrick, A., 2003. Funding the IMF: How Much Does It Really Cost. ''Quarterly International Economics Report''.

=== Books === * Lerrick, A., 1999. ''Private Sector Financing for the IMF: Now Part of an Optimal Funding Mix''. Washington, DC: Bretton Woods Committee.

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == *[https://home.treasury.gov/about/general-information/officials/adam-lerrick Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501162503/https://home.treasury.gov/about/general-information/officials/adam-lerrick |date=2020-05-01 }}, U.S. Department of the Treasury

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerrick, Adam}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Princeton University alumni Category:MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni Category:Carnegie Mellon University faculty Category:American Enterprise Institute Category:21st-century American economists Category:First Trump administration personnel Category:United States Department of the Treasury officials