Chief economist is a single-position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and

financial Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

analysis. It is distinguished from the other

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the planning, supervision, and coordination of the economic research.

Synopsis

Chief economists work primarily in

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

s and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

institutions. By the 2010s, the chief economist position was established at large internet companies such as

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

and

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

. Further, a trend began in data and financial services companies to utilize chief economists in customer- and media-facing roles to help in placing data in a larger economic context.

Government positions

In the European Union (EU), the post of Chief Economist (''aka'' Chief Competition Economist) was created in 2003 as part of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, reporting to the Director General for Competition. This role is primarily focused on advising around the application of EU competition rules and providing input to legal cases before the European Courts. In Kenya, ,A new Kenyan Constitution was ratified in 2010, likely significantly revising the roles and organization of the government. the role of chief economist was expressed as "Chief Economist/Statistician" and resided in the Ministry of Planning and National Development, one responsibility of which was to lead "a planning department or the Central Bureau of Statistics". In the United States government, there are several Offices of the Chief Economist for different departments. For instance, the Office of the Chief Economist within the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

was first staffed in March 2012 by Heidi Crebo-Rediker, and the Office of the Chief Economist within the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

is led, , by Joseph W. Glauber. From 2014-2016, the Chief Economist for the U.S. State Department was Rodney D. Ludema. The Chief Economist as of January 20, 2019 to present is Dr. Sharon Brown-Hruska. In Canada, the Office of the Chief Economist reports and advises on international trade and economic issues, including global, regional and sectoral trends and developments; and undertakes trade and economic research and analysis in support of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada's various functions: trade and investment policy, including negotiation of international agreements; international business development; and trade litigation. The post-holders are civil servants responsible to the Minister of International Trade.

Export Development Canada Export Development Canada (EDC; ) is Canada's export credit agency and a Crown corporation wholly owned by the Government of Canada. Its mandate is to support and develop trade between Canada and other countries, and help Canada's competitiveness ...

and Business Development Canada both have Chief Economists too.

Synopsis

Government positions

See also

References

Notes

Further reading