Learning to Expect the Unexpected: Life as the Last Chief Economist

Abstract

As preparation for the job of chief economist in the Department of Labor, economics has its drawbacks. Economics prompts students to appreciate predictability. I found only one certainty at the Labor Department: expect the unexpected.I came to the department with the intention of being proactive. My mission: help the secretary develop and pursue her priorities. A key goal was to build on the secretary’s argument that funding for job training still mattered. Even with the best economy in thirty years, smart policies were needed to prepare people for the future.But I often had to put out fires. For example, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics once called to report an error in the making of the consumer price index. I fielded numerous calls from the secretary asking for statistics, several times when she and President Clinton were only minutes from a press conference. The need to be reactive frequently pushed forward-looking plans to the back burner.