David Wasshausen is Associate Director for National Economic Accounts at the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
In that role, Mr. Wasshausen oversees the calculation of official economic statistics that track the performance of the U.S. economy. These include BEA's flagship economic measure, gross domestic product (GDP), as well as its major components such as consumer spending and business investment. He also oversees industry statistics, including GDP by industry, gross output, and BEA's input-output accounts.
Mr. Wasshausen also serves as chief of the Expenditure and Income Division in the National Economic Accounts. With more than 30 years of experience in national economic accounting, Mr. Wasshausen has played a prominent role in BEA's efforts to provide a fuller and more timely picture of the U.S. economy. Those efforts include the September 2020 acceleration of both industry and state quarterly GDP statistics to align with the third estimate of U.S. GDP for each quarter.
He has led efforts to develop new statistics, including statistics measuring the economic impact of arts and culture, new and improved measures for intellectual property products, and expanded integrated macroeconomic accounts statistics. He has co-authored papers on a range of topics, including the measurement of infrastructure in the National Economic Accounts, and the role of hedonic methods in measuring real, or inflation-adjusted, GDP.
Mr. Wasshausen has received awards for his leadership and innovation, including U.S. Department of Commerce Gold and Silver medals, the department's highest honors.
He holds a master's degree in economics from American University and a bachelor's degree in economics from Miami University.
