Dear NBER Family and Board Members:
I am writing to tell you about several recent NBER developments. The
first involves the NBER Health Care Program. After nineteen years as
Program Director, Alan Garber of Stanford has decided to step down from this
role effective June 30, 2009. Alan has done a magnificent job of leading
the NBER's wide-ranging activities that bear on the economics of health
care. He has led by example, carrying out path-breaking research and
participating in many different research projects while also leading this
program. I am very grateful to Alan for all that he has done in his program
director capacity, and I know that I speak for all of the NBER "HC"
affiliates in thanking him for nearly two decades of outstanding service. I
am sure that Alan will remain an active Research Associate in the HC program
going forward.
I am delighted to report that Jonathan Gruber of MIT, who has led the
NBER Program on the Economic Well-Being of Children since 1996, has agreed
to switch his program responsibilities, and to take the reigns of the Health
Care program effective July 1, 2009. Jon has played a critical role in the
"Children's Program," bringing together researchers from many sub-fields
within economics and directing their attention to pressing economic issues
that involve young people ranging from newborns to teenagers. As Jon's
research interests have recently shifted in the direction of health care
policy, switching programs is a natural step. I look forward to Jon's
energetic, insightful, and thoughtful leadership of the Health Care program
in the years ahead. Given the timing of the planned transition, Jon will
organize the Summer Institute activities for the Health Care program.
I am also delighted to report that Janet Currie of Columbia University,
the current chair of that university's Economics Department and an NBER
affiliate since 1991, has agreed to take on the Program Director role for
the Children's Program. Janet is an outstanding researcher and a leading
scholar of the role of public policy in affecting the well-being of
children. She has been one of the most active members of the Children's
Program for many years, and she served as Program Director in 1997-1998
while Jon Gruber was a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Treasury
Department. Janet will bring keen insight for the most important economic
policy issues affecting young people, as well as great energy and managerial
skill, to the leadership of the Children's Program. I know that she will
raise this already-active research area to new heights, and I speak for all
of the program members in welcoming her to her new role. Janet will assume
her program directorship on July 1, and she will serve as the organizer for
the Children's Program Summer Institute activities.
While this message is primarily about internal NBER developments, I
would be remiss if I did not recognize some of the NBER affiliates who have
recently been tapped for service in Washington. In a message last fall, I
noted that Christina Romer had been nominated (now confirmed) to chair the
Council of Economic Advisers, and that Lawrence Summers was the new director
of the National Economic Council. Since then, Research Associates Cecilia
Rouse of Princeton and Austan Goolsbee of Chicago have been nominated as
members of the Council of Economic Advisers. Austan will also serve as the
chief economist and staff director for the President's Economic Recovery
Advisory Board. Martin Feldstein and former NBER board member Roger
Ferguson of TIAA-CREF are among the members of this new Board, which is
chaired by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker. We wish them all
the best as they tackle the important economic issues that currently
confront our nation.
I know that a number of other NBER affiliates are in the process of
being considered for important roles in the new administration; I hope to be
able to provide you with further details at a later date.
All best wishes for the spring semester.
Jim Poterba
Received on Mon Feb 09 2009 - 14:55:54 EST
