John F. Cogan is the Leonard and Shirley Ely Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and a faculty member in the Public Policy program at Stanford University. Cogan’s research is focused on US budget and fiscal policy, federal entitlement programs, and health care. He has published widely in professional journals in both economics and political science. His latest book, The High Cost of Good Intentions (2017) is the recipient of the 2018 Hayek Prize.

The book traces the history of US federal entitlement programs from the Revolutionary War to modern times. His previous books include Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System (coauthored with Glenn Hubbard and Daniel Kessler) and The Budget Puzzle (with Timothy Muris and Allen Schick). Cogan has devoted a considerable part of his career to public service.

He served under President Ronald Reagan as assistant secretary for policy in the US Department of Labor from 1981 to 1983, as associate director in the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from 1983 to 1985, and as deputy OMB director from 1988 to 1989. Cogan is currently a member of the board of directors of Gilead Sciences, where he is the lead independent director, and a member of the board of trustees of the Charles Schwab Family of Funds, where he is chairman of the Governance Committee. Cogan received his AB in 1969 and his PhD in 1976 from the University of California—Los Angeles.

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