Nera Economic Consulting and MMCo Lecture Series to Feature Dr. Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google

Washington, DC - NERA Economic Consulting and its parent company, Marsh & McLennan Companies, are pleased to announce that Dr. Hal Varian, the Chief Economist at Google and Professor Emeritus at the University of California, will deliver the Spring 2013 Marsh & McLennan: NERA Economic Consulting Lecture Series on Current Economic Events.

In his presentation, “Predicting the Present with Search Engine Data,” Dr. Varian will show how search queries from Google can forecast the near-term values of important economic indicators such as retail, automotive, and housing sales, unemployment claims, travel destination planning, and consumer confidence.

The Marsh & McLennan: NERA Economic Consulting Lecture Series on Current Economic Events is organized by The George Washington University’s Department of Economics. The lecture will take place at the Marvin Center at the George Washington University on Wednesday, 8 May 2013, at 6:00 pm Eastern.

Dr. Varian joined Google in 2002, and has worked on the design of advertising auctions, econometrics, finance, corporate strategy, and public policy. He has written two bestselling textbooks: Intermediate Microeconomics, an undergraduate microeconomics text, and Microeconomic Analysis, an advanced text. He received his BS from MIT in economics and both his MA (mathematics) and PhD (economics) from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was the founding dean of the School of Information. This event is open to all alumni, faculty, students, and friends of the GW Department of Economics. The sponsorship of the lecture series showcases MMCo and NERA’s commitment to highlighting the importance and impact of economics in business and regulatory environments.

To learn more, please contact Stuart Harshbarger, NERA Vice President, at stuart.harshbarger@nera.com.

About NERA

NERA Economic Consulting (www.nera.com) is a global firm of experts dedicated to applying economic, finance, and quantitative principles to complex business and legal challenges. For over half a century, NERA’s economists have been creating strategies, studies, reports, expert testimony, and policy recommendations for government authorities and the world’s leading law firms and corporations. We bring academic rigor, objectivity, and real world industry experience to bear on issues arising from competition, regulation, public policy, strategy, finance, and litigation.

NERA’s clients value our ability to apply and communicate state-of-the-art approaches clearly and convincingly, our commitment to deliver unbiased findings, and our reputation for quality and independence. Our clients rely on the integrity and skills of our unparalleled team of economists and other experts backed by the resources and reliability of one of the world’s largest economic consultancies. With its main office in New York City, NERA serves clients from more than 20 offices across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.