FCC names chief economist

The Federal Communications Commission has chosen Indiana University Professor David Waterman to be its chief economist.
 
FCC Chair Tom Wheeler announced Waterman’s appointment on Thursday.
 
{mosads}“His understanding of the communications industries and of the relationship of market structures to public policy will allow him to contribute immediately at the FCC,” Wheeler said in a news release. “Professor Waterman’s presence will aid in our effort to beef up the role of economics in FCC decision-making.”
 
Waterman, who will focus on media related issues when he starts in January, is a professor in the Department of Telecommunications on the university’s Bloomington campus.

He earned his Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University and “is an expert” on “aspects of market structure in multichannel television, and the economics of programming, copyright and Internet video distribution,” according to the FCC.