A former economics advisor to former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton reportedly killed himself over the weekend, said his family on March 18.
Alan Kreuger, 58, served in the last two Democratic administrators as chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor under Clinton and as head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers for Obama.
His family didn’t elaborate on the cause of death or other circumstances surrounding his death,
Reuters reported.“It is with tremendous sadness we share that Professor Alan B. Krueger, beloved husband, father, son, brother, and Princeton professor of economics took his own life over the weekend,” his family said in the statement to Reuters.
Kreuger was a prominent economics professor at Princeton University. He had taught at the university since 1987.
“The family requests the time and space to grieve and remember him,” said the statement.
He’s survived by his wife, Lisa, and their two children.
Obama issued a statement on his death.
“He saw economic policy not as a matter of abstract theories, but as a way to make people’s lives better,” Obama wrote, reported
NBC News. “He believed that facts, reason, and evidence could make government more responsive, and his enthusiasm and curiosity was truly infectious.”
Another Obama official, Jared Bernstein, who served as chief economist for Vice President Joe Biden, wrote that Kreuger “believed that if you want to know the answer to something, sometimes you have to go out and get the data yourself, something very few economists do,” CNN reported.
Added Lisa Cook, an economist and White House aide for Obama:: “I cannot believe my friend, CEA colleague, and extraordinary economist @Alan_Krueger has passed away. His contributions to the field are immeasurable. His ability to examine and communicate important economic data, questions, and findings was remarkable. Rest in peace, Alan.”
“It’s hard to believe that Alan Krueger is dead. He was a hero to me: A great economist, an extraordinary public servant and policymaker, and a helluva mentor and teacher. And he took extraordinary delight in everything he did and everyone he touched,”
tweeted Justin Wolfers.Jason Furman, who also served as chair of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, also
wrote: “Alan Krueger taught me about economic policy for more than two decades. His convincing empirical research on the most important questions is a lasting legacy. A devastating loss.”
