Economist from Federal Trade Commission Named Fellow at Law School

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October 14, 1999

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Charles J. Thomas, an economist for the Division of Economic Policy Analysis of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has been named a Kramer Fellow at the Law School for the 1999-00 academic year.

The nine-month fellowship is designed to provide midcareer training and intellectual enrichment for professional employees of the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. It provides an opportunity for acquainting the professional staff of these agencies with research

results and academic thinking in the antitrust, consumer protection, and other competition areas. It also allows public officials experienced in handling important policy and administrative matters to contribute to the work of an academic community.

At the FTC, Thomas has conducted economic analyses of mergers and general business conduct. This work led to his receipt of the Francis Walker Award for Excellence in Economics in 1998. He is frequently consulted through all levels of the Bureaus of Economics and Competition for his expertise in auctions, game theory, and the economics of information. In one merger case, Thomas provided a detailed theoretical analysis of the impact of "unilateral effects" in one of the first mergers that the FTC evaluated using scanner data. In the 1998 preliminary injunction hearing that blocked two substantial mergers in the drug wholesaling industry, he provided economic support to the FTC’s primary testifying economist. Thomas’ ongoing research program has yielded insights addressing several issues in industrial organization that are relevant to antitrust.

Thomas received an M.A. in economics in 1995 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1996, both from Princeton University, where he obtained funding through a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. He received a B.A. in mathematics and economics in 1991 from the University of Virginia, where he was a National Merit Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

The Kramer Fellowship is offered in an alternate year arrangement between Harvard Law School and the University of Chicago School of Law, which will host the fellowship for the 2000-01 year. It includes the cost of education, a stipend for living and other additional expenses, and allowances for items needed for research.