Brad Setser

Brad Setser is the Whitney Shepardson senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) where he focuses on the global economy, with particular expertise in trade imbalances, international capital movements, financial crises, and sovereign debt. Setser maintains a blog titled Follow the Money, where he analyses global trade, capital flows, and economic vulnerabilities .

From 2021 to 2022, Setser served as a senior advisor to the United States Trade Representative, contributing to the resolution of several major trade disputes. He previously held the position of deputy assistant secretary for international economic analysis at the US Department of the Treasury (2011–2015), where he worked on a range of critical issues including the eurozone financial crisis, currency policy, financial sanctions, commodity shocks, and Puerto Rico’s debt restructuring. He also served as director for international economics at both the National Economic Council and the National Security Council.

He is the author of Sovereign Wealth and Sovereign Power (CFR, 2008) and the co-author, with Nouriel Roubini, of Bailouts and Bail-ins: Responding to Financial Crises in Emerging Economies. His work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Finance & Development, Global Governance, and the Georgetown Journal of International Law, among other publications.

Setser was previously a senior fellow at CFR (2016 – 2020), a fellow (2007 – 2009), and an international affairs fellow (2003). He has also been a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund.

Setser holds a BA from Harvard University, a master’s degree from Sciences Po Paris, and both an MA and a PhD in international relations from Oxford University.