Michael Ettlinger

Ettlinger was born in New York City to Adrian and Carol Ettlinger. He grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson. Ettlinger attended Cornell University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering, and American University, Washington College of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor.[18]

Ettlinger started his career as a staff attorney at Vietnam Veterans of America Legal Services, where he worked on federal legislation and represented veterans in legal proceedings.[18] Subsequently he served as counsel to Richard L. Brodsky in the New York State Assembly, where he worked on government ethics and regulating alcohol use at sporting events, among other issues.[13][19]

Ettlinger returned to Washington to be State Tax Policy Director, and then Tax Policy Director, at Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) and the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).[18][7] While at CTJ and ITEP, Ettlinger designed and built the ITEP tax microsimulation model. At the time, it was one of very few non-governmental U.S. tax microsimulation models and the only one to comprehensively model state-level, as well as national, taxes—including income, property and consumption taxes.[20] In his 11 years at CTJ/ITEP Ettlinger was, in some way, involved in most major tax debates at the federal or state level.[18] He frequently appeared in the media, was consulted by policymakers and testified before legislative bodies.[21] After CTJ and ITEP Ettlinger served as Deputy Director of Public Campaign, an organization which promoted public financing of election campaigns.[3][7]

At the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) Ettlinger was the director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network.[7] In that role he led the institute's work to advance a progressive economic policy agenda at the state level, initiated a joint internship program with Howard University and the University of Texas–Pan American (now merged into the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) and worked on national and state tax policy issues.[18][22] At EPI Ettlinger worked in support of several successful state level minimum wage ballot initiatives.[23][24]

Starting in early 2008, Ettlinger was the Vice President for Economic Policy at the Center for American Progress (CAP). As the head of the economic policy team at the dawn of an Obama administration with which CAP was closely associated, during the worst recession since the Great Depression, Ettlinger led a team that was highly involved in the most salient policy issues of the period. He developed, and led and supervised the development of, progressive economic policies and advocated for them. He particularly worked on an equity-focused paradigm and middle-class focus for economic policy,[25][26] support for increased stimulus as the economic recovery disappointed[27][28] and the intersection of economic policy with other policy areas such as clean energy and health care.[18][29]

From 2013 to 2014, at the Pew Charitable Trusts, as Director of Economic and Fiscal Policy Portfolio, Ettlinger led a team that worked on a broad range of issues including fiscal policy, government effectiveness, immigration, and economic data collection and analysis.[18][30][31]

In July 2014 Ettlinger became the founding director of the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire.[32] He also is an Affiliate Professor of Law at the University of New Hampshire's Franklin Pierce School of Law and is a Faculty Fellow at the Law School's Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership, and Public Policy.[33]

The Carsey School is nationally recognized for research, policy education, and its work on civic dialogue. The School focuses on research with practical application and is often involved in the development of the policies and practices that arise from its research. It also is noted for its national convenings related to community finance. Within New Hampshire, the School plays an important role in promoting dialogue related to controversial issues and has been particularly involved in issues of racial justice and equity. Other particular strengths of the School include its demographic research, its research related to family well-being and its innovative data presentations—including the mobile app FedGovSpend Explorer and corresponding website.[34] The School offers four master degree programs in public policy, public administration, community development and human security.[35]

Ettlinger also served as the Director of Economic Policy Planning for the pre-election Clinton-Kaine Presidential Transition and as the volunteer co-lead of the Regional Economics and Battleground States Subcommittee of the Biden-Harris campaign's Economic Policy Committee (Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign).

In February 2023, Ettlinger left his director position at the Carsey School and became a part-time senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

In 2016 several emails from Ettlinger to John Podesta were stolen and leaked by WikiLeaks in the Podesta emails incident. This resulted in strong criticism by the New Hampshire Union Leader and some Republicans in the state.[36][37][38][39]