EXCLUSIVE: Life After the President’s Council of Economic Advisors

Price and Mulligan discuss the latter’s experience as the Chief Economist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisors.

“Gordon Tullock wrote that government economists found capable of “firefighting” are assigned to do more of it, “with the result that the higher ranks of government economists aren’t able to read.” We here offer ourselves as confounding data points, for our experiences have been otherwise. We read a lot. This article reports how doing our jobs well at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) laid a substantial foundation for subsequent academic articles. We found a marked increase in our research productivity post-service, evidenced by publications in economics journals and new academic courses developed. We attribute the boost to the direct application of public sector understanding to academic research and enhanced work habits acquired from CEA’s rigorous environment.”

According to the NY Times, “Mulligan is affiliated with a number of professional organizations, including the National Bureau of Economic Research, the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State, and the Population Research Center. He is also the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including those from the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Smith- Richardson Foundation, and the John M. Olin Foundation.

 

“Professor Mulligan received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1993. He has also served as a visiting professor teaching public economics at Harvard University, Clemson University, and Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago.”

 

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