Contact Information

Philip J. Romero is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and a senior fellow in business and economics at the Pacific Research Institute. Dr. Romero brings experience from the academic, government, business and research realms. Previously dean of the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon, he also taught strategy and economics. He is an expert on the current and future state of the economy, and its particular implications for early stage and small businesses. He was recently interviewed by media on the economic impact of a high-speed rail project in Southern California.

Romero's background combines think-tank economics, corporate strategy, and public policy. After spending the 1980s as a research economist and defense policy specialist at California's RAND Corporation, in 1990 he was named director of strategic planning for United Technologies Corp. (UTC). While serving in that job, Romero advised the UTC chairman on new market opportunities, acquisitions, and divestitures. He was instrumental in UTC's turnaround in the early 1990's, converting its worst performing division into its second most profitable.

In 1991 Romero was tapped by newly-elected Gov. Pete Wilson to become California's chief economist. He served as troubleshooter on business and economic operations for Gov. Wilson until 1999, overseeing nearly half of state government. Romero was the author and lead implementer of key improvements in California’s business climate. These reforms transformed California’s economy, plagued in the early 1990s by its worst recession since the Great Depression: the state went from last in the nation in job growth to nearly twice the national average—from losing 1,000 jobs per day to gaining 1,000.

During his tenure in California’s Governor’s office, Romero served as acting director of the state Office of Planning and Research (OPR), the Governor's think tank. He transformed OPR from a moribund backwater into a powerful source of policy ideas and analysis. He also served as Wilson's national security adviser. As Chief Deputy Cabinet Secretary, he oversaw all state agencies that regulated or promoted business ($5B budget and 40,000+ employees). He was Executive Director of the California Managed Health Care Improvement Task Force, which designed an overhaul of state regulation of the HMO industry. Gov. Wilson summarized his role: “If it’s big and complicated, we give it to Romero and he fixes it.”

Romero has emphasized business and government collaboration by integrating business strategies into public policy. For example, he led the design of California's efforts to open telecommunications and utility monopolies to competition. Likewise, he improved public sector performance by opening government monopolies to competition, saving taxpayers more than $10 million per year. He is also a member of Brainstorm magazine’s editorial board, and a director (and chair of the corporate governance committee) of Lithia Motors (NYSE: LAD), a Fortune 500 auto retailer.

Dr. Romero earned a Ph.D. (1988) and M.A. (1985) in Policy Analysis (mixture of economics and applied mathematics), with Distinction, from the RAND Graduate School, and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Cornell University (1983). He has published numerous research papers on a range of strategy and policy topics, including nuclear arms control, conventional forces, command and control, selecting Presidential advisers, business regulation, tax policy, international trade, international economic growth, health reform, the Federal budget, and crisis management. He is co-author of three books: The De-Escalation of Nuclear Crises, published by St. Martin’s Press; California: Problemos Economicos, Sociales, y Politicos; The Northridge Earthquake, 1994; and California Policy Options 2000, and is also frequently published or interviewed in major national media including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Business Week, PBS’ News Hour with Jim Lehrer, National Public Radio, and others. He has taught graduate or undergraduate courses at UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, and in the California State University system.

Philip Romero’s public policy interests include how governments compete for business investment and retention, on government’s role in creating conditions that nurture durable market advantage for resident businesses, and on introducing competitive forces into the delivery of public services.

Dr. Romero is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a recipient of its Ford Foundation International Affairs Fellowship. He is also a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers, and a founding member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. In addition, he is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and a Senior Fellow in Business and Economic Studies at the Pacific Research Institute.

Married to Lita Flores since 1984, he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in the West, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He enjoys designing and playing historical simulation games.