Measuring economic activity focus of 2009 Usery Lecture
March 4, 2009
Contact:
Leah Seupersad
University Relations
404-413-1354
lvh@gsu.edu
Measuring economic activity focus of 2009 Usery Lecture
ATLANTA—Katharine Abraham, former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and a leading researcher on the measurement and analysis of economic activity, will be the keynote speaker at the 2009 Fifth Annual W.J. Usery Distinguished Lecture at 2 p.m. March 12.
Abraham, a professor of economics at University of Maryland, will discuss her paper "What We Don't Know Could Hurt Us: Some Reflections on the Measurement of Economic Activity" at the lecture, which will be held in the 7th floor seminar room in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, 14 Marietta St.
“As commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) during the 1990s, Katharine Abraham led the Bureau down new paths, introducing surveys on time use, job vacancies, turnover, and leading BLS efforts in major improvements in price and productivity data,” said Barry Hirsch, W.J. Usery Chair of the American Workplace and professor of economics in AYSPS. “Those attending Abraham's lecture will learn how essential are high-quality data on wages, employment, non-market activities, and so forth, particularly in these extraordinary times.”
In her paper, Abraham says that “as the economy changes, our economic statistics also must adapt to maintain their relevance.” And although she says statistical agencies have worked to improve federal economic statistics over the last decade, there’s still work to be done to expand the scope of their measurements to provide a more complete portrait of the modern economy.
“I’m an economist and I’ve always been interested in how we measure things and how we know what’s really happening in the economy,” Abraham said. “I spent eight years working in government, working in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and I came to appreciate how important it is that we measure things correctly and how if you don’t measure things correctly you could be misled or miss important developments.”
Early in her career, Abraham coauthored classic papers on vacancies and unemployment and on how wages rise relative to productivity over a worker’s tenure. Her recent work examines non-response in the time use surveys, labor market barriers for older women, college enrollment effects of a tuition assistance program and the rewards to occupational job skills.
The lecture is open to all faculty, students and staff. Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information on W.J. Usery or the annual Usery Lecture, contact Barry Hirsch at bhirsch@gsu.edu or visit http://aysps.gsu.edu/usery/1698.html.