Alan B. Krueger (1960–2019) was a labor economist whose innovative use of natural experiments in economics led to groundbreaking research on the effects of the minimum wage on employment. He studied a variety of issues at the intersection of economics, education, and industrial relations, including the relationship between poverty and terrorism, the effects of school vouchers on student achievement, the formation of public opinion about the economy and economic policy, and even the economics of rock-and-roll concerts.
Krueger spent several years in public service as well, serving as chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor under President Bill Clinton and as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama.
Professional positions
- 1987–1994, 2010–2019: James Madison Professor of Political Economy and Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Princeton University
- 2011–2013: Chair, White House Council of Economic Advisers (under President Barack Obama)
- 2009–2010: Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy (under President Barack Obama)
- 1994–1995: Chief Economist, United States Department of Labor (under President Bill Clinton)
Notable publications
- Card, David, and Alan B. Krueger. 2016 [1995]. Myth and Measurement: The New Economics of the Minimum Wage, 20th anniversary edition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Krueger, Alan B. 2007. What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Heckman, James J., and Alan B. Krueger. 2002. Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policies?, ed. Benjamin M. Friedman. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Card, David, and Alan B. Krueger. 1994. “Minimum wages and employment: A case study of the fast-food industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.” American Economic Review 84(4): 772–793.
Degrees
- PhD, economics, Harvard University
- MA, economics, Harvard University
- BS, Cornell University
Induction Remarks
Moynihan Lecture
An edited version of this lecture appears in volume 675 of The ANNALS.
