Obama's Chief Economic Adviser to Speak at Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Alan Krueger -- chair of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and one of the nation’s leading labor economists -- will deliver the 2012 Institute for Policy Research’s Distinguished Policy Lecture Monday, Oct. 8, at Northwestern University.

“A Conversation with Alan Krueger” will take place from 4 to 5:15 p.m. in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum, 1870 Campus Drive, on the University’s Evanston campus. A reception will follow. Although free and open to the public, registration is required at http://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/events/regform.html.

 An expert on unemployment, job markets, income inequality, and the economics of education, Krueger provides President Obama with objective economic analysis and advice on the development and implementation of domestic and international economic policy.

“Krueger has made path-breaking contributions on many public policy research fronts,” said Institute for Policy Research Director David Figlio. “He is one of the most distinguished scholars of his generation.”

Krueger previously served under Obama as assistant secretary for economic policy and chief economist of the Department of the Treasury. He was chief economist at the Department of Labor during the Clinton administration.

The founding director of the Princeton University Survey Research Center, Krueger has written numerous journal articles and authored or edited seven books, including “Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policies?” (MIT Press, 2004), co-written with Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman. Krueger currently is on leave from Princeton.

Krueger has received many honors, including the Kershaw Award from the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and the IZA Prize in Labor Economics. An elected fellow of the Econometric Society, Society of Labor Economists, American Academy of Arts and Sciences and American Academy of Political and Social Science, he was a regular contributor to The New York Times’ “Economic Scene” column from 2000 to 2006.

The Institute for Policy Research is a nonpartisan, interdisciplinary research institute. Its mission is to stimulate and support excellent social science research on significant public policy issues and disseminate the findings to students, scholars, policymakers and the public. Its Distinguished Public Policy Lecture Series features speakers who straddle the worlds of policymaking and academia.

For further information about “A Conversation with Alan Krueger,” call (847) 491-3395, email e-dunleavy@northwestern.edu or visit the Institute for Policy Research at http://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/events/lectures/2012/krueger.html.