C. Fred Bergsten is a senior fellow and Director Emeritus of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, where he had served as founding director from 1982 through 2012. He is also a member of the President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations, a member of the Advisory Committee to the Export-Import Bank, and co-chairman of the Private Sector Advisory Group to the United States–India Trade Policy Forum.
Prior to his coming to the Peterson Institute, Bergsten was the assistant secretary for international affairs of the United States Treasury, serving from from 1977 to 1981. He also served as undersecretary for monetary affairs during 1980 to 1981, representing the United States on the G-5 Deputies and in preparing G-7 summits. From 1969 to 1971 he coordinated US foreign economic policy on the National Security Council as assistant for international economic affairs to Henry Kissinger.
Bergsten’s engagements alongside his Peterson Institute responsibilities include his role as chairman of the Eminent Persons Group of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, from 1993 to 1995; chairman of the Competitiveness Policy Council created by the Congress, from 1991 through 1995; and chair of the “Shadow G-8,” which advised member governments on their annual summits, from 2000–2005. He has been cited as number 37 of the top 50 “Who Really Moves the Markets?” in the Fidelity Investment publication Worth.
Bergsten has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited 41 books on international economic issues, including The Long-Term International Economic Position of the United States (2009), China’s Rise: Challenges and Opportunities (2008), and China, The Balance Sheet: What the World Needs to Know Now About The Emerging Superpower (2006).
Bergsten has received the Meritorious Honor Award of the Department of State (1965); the Exceptional Service Award of the Treasury Department (1981); the Legion d’Honneur from the Government of France (1985); and the Order of the Polar Star from the Government of Sweden (2013). He has been named an Honorary Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (1997) and a Global Advisor to the President of the Republic of Korea (2009).
