Alan Krueger

Alan Krueger was a prominent American economist renowned for his empirical research on labor markets, education, and terrorism. He served as the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama and was a professor at Princeton University. His influential work, particularly on the minimum wage and the economics of terrorism, shaped public policy and academic debate for decades.

Early life and education

He was born in Livingston, New Jersey, and demonstrated an early aptitude for mathematics. He completed his undergraduate studies at Cornell University, earning a degree in Industrial and Labor Relations. He then pursued graduate studies in economics at Harvard University, where he earned his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees under the guidance of influential scholars like Lawrence Summers.

Academic career

Following his doctorate, he began his teaching career at Harvard University before joining the faculty at Princeton University in 1987. He held the Bendheim Professorship in Economics and Public Policy at Princeton and was a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He also served as the founding director of the Princeton University Survey Research Center and was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Public service and policy influence

His expertise was frequently sought by the federal government. He served as Chief Economist at the United States Department of Labor during the Clinton administration. He was appointed by President Barack Obama as Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the United States Department of the Treasury and later served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. In these roles, he helped craft policy responses to the Great Recession and advised on issues like unemployment insurance and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Research and contributions to economics

He was a pioneering empirical economist, known for using natural experiments and innovative data. His most famous study, co-authored with David Card, analyzed the impact of a minimum wage increase in New Jersey on fast-food employment, challenging conventional wisdom. He made significant contributions to the economics of education, studying the effects of class size and school quality. Later, he pioneered the field of terrorism economics, analyzing the root causes and labor market patterns of terrorists, work he conducted with Jitka Malečková. He authored influential books like What Makes a Terrorist and Rockonomics.

Personal life and death

He was married to Lisa Simon Krueger and had two children. He was an avid music fan, which inspired his later research on the music industry. He died by suicide at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, in March 2019. His death was met with widespread mourning from colleagues across academia, the White House, and institutions like the Brookings Institution and the International Monetary Fund. Category:American economists Category:Labor economists Category:Princeton University faculty