Shai Akabas

Shai Akabas is the Executive Director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Economic Policy Program, which is responsible for a variety of economic issues, including fiscal policy, retirement and financial security, labor market policy, and the financing of higher education. Akabas got his start at BPC in 2010 staffing the Domenici-Rivlin Debt Reduction Task Force and assisting Jerome Powell, now Chairman of the Federal Reserve, in his nationally recognized work on the federal debt limit. Over the years, Akabas has also steered high-level BPC commissions in several policy areas and provided extensive assistance to federal policymakers and their staff on some of the most pressing policy questions of the day.

Prior to joining BPC, Akabas worked as a satellite office director on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2009 campaign for reelection. Born and raised in New York City, he received his B.A. in economics and history from Cornell University and an M.S. in applied economics from Georgetown University.