The Mike McCracken Award for Economic Statistics recognizes both theoretical and applied contributions of all sorts that have contributed in important ways to the development or use of official economic statistics.

Contributions in the development of the economic framework and concepts for measurement, statistical and econometric tools, information technology innovations and applications, innovations that enhance the policy relevance of official economic statistics, contributions to the management of statistical programs, and contributions to improving public access to and understanding of official economic statistics are all relevant.

The Award was established in 2010. It is endorsed by the Canadian Economics Association (CEA) and, beginning with the 2011 award, will be presented at the annual meeting of the CEA.

Each winner will be presented with a limited edition print of an original painting: The Mike McCracken Award Painting. The name(s) of the winner of the award will also be engraved on a Commemorative Plaque that accompanies the painting.

This award is patterned on the Julius Shiskin Award for Economic Statistics, co-sponsored by the Washington Statistical Society, the U.S. National Association for Business Economics, and the Business and Economics Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association.

The Award Committee for the Mike McCracken Award for Economic Statistics consists of Steve Landfeld (Director, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the 2006 winner of the Julius Shiskin Award), Douglas May (Memorial University, and a past president of the Atlantic Canada Economics Association), Alice Nakamura (University of Alberta, and a past president of the CEA), Stewart Wells (a former Assistant Chief Statistician, National Accounts and Analytical Studies, Statistics Canada), Mike Veall (McMaster University, and Past President of the CEA; the Award Committee Chair), and Thomas A. Wilson (University of Toronto, and a past president of the CEA).

The name of the award was selected because Michael C. McCracken, best known professionally and to his friends as Mike McCracken, is a shining example of much of what this award is intended to promote. Mike McCracken has contributed to the development and use of official economic statistics in Canada since he first began his caree war in this nation.

Mike was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was educated at Rice University in Houston and SMU in Dallas. He worked at the Economic Council of Canada from 1965-76. From 1970-72, he served as the first Director of the CANDIDE Canadian macro econometric modeling project. In 1972, he co-founded Informetrica (1972), a Canadian-based economic research and information company, providing long-term national, provincial, and industrial forecasts to companies, governments, and other organizations across Canada and abroad. Mike has been President of Informetrica since it was founded.

He also served as president of the Canadian Association for Business Economics (1979-81 and 1988-90) and Chair of the U.S. Conference of Business Economists (1994). He is Treasurer of the Canadian Employment Research Forum (CERF) and a member of the Statistics Canada National Accounts Advisory Committee.

The breadth and nature of Mike's interests can be glimpsed from the materials at Informetrica Archives.

Individuals and teams of individuals in the public or private sector can be nominated. There are no national restrictions on the recipients of this award, but nominations should include an explanation of how the contributions noted are of value to Canada.

In addition to the name, affiliation, phone number and email address of the person or persons being nominated, the nomination package should include:

• A detailed nomination letter that describes the specific contributions or research work upon which the nomination is based and the relevance of these contributions for this Award.
• Any other documentation considered to be important for a proper evaluation of the nominee's contributions to economic statistics.

The nomination materials should be submitted as a complete package by the person making the nomination, with all documents in Word or PDF formats, to Mike Veall, veall@mcmaster.ca.

Nominations must be received by April 5, 2013 to be considered for the 2013 award.