Robert J. Shapiro

Biographical Information
"Robert J. Shapiro is the co-founder and chairman of Sonecon, LLC, a private firm that advises U.S. and foreign businesses, governments, and non-profit organizations on market conditions and economic policy. Dr. Shapiro and Sonecon have advised, among others, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Senator John Kerry; private firms such as MCI, Inc., New York Life Insurance Co., SLM Corporation, Nordstjernan of Sweden, and Fujitsu of Japan; and non-profits including the American Public Transportation Association, the Education Finance Council, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and PhrMA. He is a Senior Fellow of the Progressive Policy Institute, Economic Counselor to the U.S. Conference Board, and a director of the Ax:son-Johnson Foundation in Sweden and the Center for International Political Economy in New York.

"From 1997-2001, Dr. Shapiro was U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs. In that position, he oversaw the nation's major statistical agencies, including the Census Bureau while it planned and carried out the 2000 decennial census, and economic policy for the Commerce Department. Prior to his appointment as Under Secretary, he was co-founder and Vice President of the Progressive Policy Institute and the Progressive Foundation. He also served as principal economic advisor in Bill Clinton's 1991-1992 presidential campaign, Legislative Director for Senator Daniel P. Moynihan, Associate Editor of U.S. News & World Report, and economics columnist for Slate. Dr. Shapiro has been a Fellow of Harvard University, the Brookings Institution and the National Bureau of Economic Research. He holds a PhD from Harvard, a MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an AB from the University of Chicago."


 * Cofounder, New Democrat Network
 * International Advisory Board, The Future 500