Peter R. Orszag

Peter R. Orszag is the CEO of Lazard, Inc. (LAZ). He served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy (1997–1998), and as Senior Economist and Senior Adviser on the Council of Economic Advisers (1995–1996) during the Clinton administration. He also formed a consulting group called Sebago Associates, which merged into Competition Policy Associates and was bought by FTI Consulting Inc. for a reported $70 million.

After leaving the Obama administration, Orszag took a job with Citigroup. A 2011 article in New York Magazine suggested Citi's hiring of Orszag "signaled that Citi would be invested in the intellectual marketplace," and that "just about anyone will take the call of a former White House budget director." In May 2016, Orszag joined Lazard as Managing Director and Vice Chairman of Investment Banking. He is also an invitee of the Bilderberg Group and attended the conferences in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Orszag was director of the Congressional Budget Office from January 2007 to November 2008. During his tenure, he repeatedly drew attention to the role rising health care expenditures are likely to play in the government's long-term fiscal problems—and, by extension, the nation's long-term economic problems. "I have not viewed CBO's job as just to passively evaluate what Congress proposes, but rather to be an analytical resource. And part of that is to highlight things that are true and that people may not want to hear, including that we need to address health-care costs."[19] During his time at the CBO, he added 20 full-time health analysts (bringing the total number to 50), thereby strengthening the CBO's analytical capabilities and preparing Congress for health-care reform.