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Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez has appointed Professor Ginger Zhe Jin as Director of its Bureau of Economics, succeeding Francine Lafontaine, who is returning to the University of Michigan. She has also named Alison Oldale as the Bureau’s Deputy Director for Antitrust.

“We are very pleased that Ginger Zhe Jin will join the Federal Trade Commission as Director of the Bureau of Economics, and that Alison Oldale will serve as Deputy Director for Antitrust. Professor Jin brings to us unique and extraordinary research-based expertise on a variety of issues that span both the competition and consumer protection missions of the agency.  Dr. Oldale is a highly regarded antitrust economist with exceptionally deep and broad experience acquired through service in both the public and private sectors. Their combined expertise and experience will contribute greatly to the Commission in fulfilling its competition and consumer protection missions,” Chairwoman Ramirez said. “I am grateful to Francine Lafontaine for her outstanding work as Bureau Director. Under her able leadership, the Bureau of Economics has continued to make vitally important contributions to the Commission’s work on behalf of American consumers.”

Jin, who will begin her new role in January, has been serving the FTC as a fellow while on sabbatical from the University of Maryland. She is a Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland College Park, a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, co-editor of the Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, and co-founder of Hazel Analytics, Inc. Jin’s research has focused on information asymmetry among economic agents, with studies including restaurant food safety, health insurance, prescription drugs, online trading, online reviews, and regulatory inspection.

Jin earned a doctorate in Economics from UCLA, master’s degrees in economics from UCLA and the Graduate School of the People’s Bank of China, and a bachelor’s degree in economic management from the University of Science and Technology of China.

Alison Oldale, who will join the agency in December, is an Executive Vice President at Compass Lexecon in Washington, DC, with expertise in pharmaceuticals, transport, entertainment and media, intellectual property, telecommunications, and healthcare. She previously worked for the FTC as Deputy Director for Antitrust on a detail assignment from the United Kingdom’s Competition Commission, where she was Chief Economist. She also has served as a director at the economics consulting firm LECG.

Oldale earned a doctorate in economics and a master’s degree in econometrics and mathematical economics from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Cambridge.

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