Peter J. Wallison holds the Arthur F. Burns Chair in Financial Policy Studies and is co-director of AEI’s program on Financial Policy Studies. Prior to joining AEI, he practiced banking, corporate and financial law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., and New York. Mr. Wallison has held a number of government positions. From June 1981 to January 1985, he was General Counsel of the United States Treasury Department, where he had a significant role in the development of the Reagan Administration's proposals for deregulation in the financial services industry. During 1986 and 1987, Mr. Wallison was White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan, and between 1972 and 1976, he served first as Special Assistant to New York's Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller and, subsequently, as counsel to Mr. Rockefeller as vice president of the United States.
Mr. Wallison was admitted to practice before the courts of New York and the District of Columbia, and is retired from practice in New York. He continues to be a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1963 and law degree from Harvard Law School in 1966.
Mr. Wallison is the author of Ronald Reagan: The Power of Conviction and the Success of His Presidency, published in December 2002 by Westview Press. On campaign finance, he is the author (with Joel Gora) of Better Parties, Better Government, (AEI Press 2009). On financial or regulatory matters, he is the author of Back From the Brink, a proposal for a private deposit insurance system, and co-author of Nationalizing Mortgage Risk: The Growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; The GAAP Gap: Corporate Disclosure in the Internet Age; Competitive Equity: A Better Way to Organize Mutual Funds; Bad History, Worse Policy: How a False Narrative about the Financial Crisis Led to the Dodd-Frank Act (AEI Press 2013); and Hidden In Plain Sight: What Caused the World’s Worst Financial Crisis and Why it Could Happen Again (Encounter Books 2015). His most recent book is Judicial Fortitude: The Last Chance to Rein in the Administrative State, published by Encounter Books in October 2018.
He testifies frequently before committees of Congress, and is a frequent contributor to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal and other print and online journals. He has also been a speaker at many conferences on financial services, housing, the causes of the financial crisis, the Dodd-Frank Act, accounting, and corporate governance, and was a member of the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee between 1995 and 2015. He was a member of the SEC Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting (2008), co-Chair of the Pew Financial Reform Task Force (2009), and a member of the congressionally- appointed Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (2009-2011). In May 2011, for his work in financial policy, Mr. Wallison received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Colorado.
What's Next for Fannie, Freddie, and Housing Finance Reform?
Regulatory Transparency Project
National Press Club529 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20045
Judicial Fortitude: The Last Chance to Rein in the Administrative State
Baker Donelson211 Commerce Street #800
Nashville, TN 37201
Judicial Fortitude – The Last Chance to Rein in the Administrative State
Indianapolis Lawyers Chapter
Conrad Indianapolis50 West Washington
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Panel 3: Economic Liberty in Criminal Justice: Business Crimes and Economic Sanctions
2019 National Student Symposium
W.P. Carey Great Hall, Beus Center for Law and Society (ASU Law)111 E Taylor Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Judicial Fortitude: The Last Chance to Rein In the Administrative State
The Pollock-Altmayer House501 Government Street, Ste.1
Mobile, AL 36602
What's Next for Fannie, Freddie, and Housing Finance Reform?
Regulatory Transparency Project
On December 10, 2019, the Regulatory Transparency Project hosted an event at the National Press...
What's Next for Fannie, Freddie, and Housing Finance Reform?
Regulatory Transparency Project
On December 10, 2019, the Regulatory Transparency Project hosted an event at the National Press...
Deep Dive Episode 84 – What's Next for Fannie, Freddie, and Housing Finance Reform?
Regulatory Transparency Project's Fourth Branch Podcast
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) oversees the administration of both Freddie Mac and Fannie...
Panel 3: Economic Liberty in Criminal Justice: Business Crimes and Economic Sanctions
2019 National Student Symposium
On March 15-16, 2019, the Federalist Society's student chapter at the ASU Sandra Day O'Connor...
Panel 3: Economic Liberty in Criminal Justice: Business Crimes and Economic Sanctions
2019 National Student Symposium
On March 15-16, 2019, the Federalist Society's student chapter at the ASU Sandra Day O'Connor...