Mike McCracken: Winner of the 2012 Galbraith Prize in Economics

OTTAWA AND TORONTO, March 8, 2012 /CNW/ - The Progressive Economics Forum (PEF) is proud to announce that Mike McCracken, Chair and CEO of Informetrica Ltd. in Ottawa, has won the 3^rd biennial Galbraith Prize for a lifetime contribution to economics and social justice in Canada.

Mr. McCracken co-founded Informetrica in 1972, after working at the Economic Council of Canada, where he helped build the Council's CANDIDE macroeconomic simulation model.  For 40 years, Informetrica has been a prominent and credible source of economic and policy analysis in fields such as industry and energy studies, macroeconomic and monetary policy, input-output analysis, aboriginal economic development, and healthcare.

The Galbraith Prize is named in honour of the late John Kenneth Galbraith, and was inaugurated in 2007 with a lecture by James Galbraith, son of the legendary Canadian-born economist and commentator.  It is supported by an endowment raised by the PEF, Canada's network of progressive economists.  Mel Watkins (University of Toronto) and Kari Polanyi Levitt (McGill University) were joint winners in 2008, and John Loxley (University of Manitoba) received the prize in 2010.

This year's winner was selected by a five-member panel composed of the three previous Galbraith winners, Tony Dean (former secretary to the Ontario cabinet), and Morna Ballantyne (a prominent trade unionist and founder of the unionleadership.ca website).

In awarding the prize to Mr. McCracken, the judges mentioned in particular his long-time advocacy of continued public-service provision in Canada, and his consistent support for many community and social-justice groups working to protect and expand public programs like healthcare.  In an era when many governments are implementing short-sighted austerity measures that threaten the quality of public services, social inclusion, and macroeconomic stability, Mr. McCracken's outspoken views on these topics are especially timely.

Mr. McCracken will present a lecture on a subject of his choice and receive the $2000 award at a reception hosted by the PEF at the Canadian Economics Association's (CEA) annual conference in Calgary on June 8-9.  The CEA itself has previously recognized Mr. McCracken's contributions to the profession by inaugurating a McCracken Award for the Advancement of Economic Statistics.

on the Galbraith Prize, please consult the PEF's web site: www.progressive-economics.ca, or contact Marc Lee (economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 604-801-5121) or Jim Stanford (economist, Canadian Auto Workers union, 416-718-8497).