Spotlight on LED Alumni: Brian Lewis, BA (Hon) Economics, 1985

Brian Lewis graduated from Laurier with an Honours degree in Economics in 1985, following up with an MA at the University of Alberta. He recently retired from his position as Chief Economist and Assistant Deputy Minister of the Office of Economic Policy (OEP) in the Ontario Ministry of Finance.  He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, and at the C.D. Howe Institute, in which roles he is educating future public policy professionals and providing public commentary on economic and fiscal policy issues including the Ontario Infrastructure Bank, housing supply targets, and provincial economic and budget statements. His most recent article on issues with the Ontario Works program was published in the Toronto Star in September.

He visited Laurier as Economist in Residence in 2017, where he gave a public lecture on his role with the Ontario Ministry of Finance, and the future of the Ontario economy, as well as spending time talking with students.

What are you working on currently, and what do you find most exciting about it?

Delivering a course on Public Finance Economics in the Masters of Public Policy program at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. This is very exciting because it allows me to combine my passion for economics with my extensive professional experience working in public finance.

What is one thing you remember best from Laurier?

There was a strong sense of community among the students, faculty, and administrators. I always felt people were very supportive of each other and ready to help. 

Was there anything you learned that you didn’t expect to be useful later on, but that was?

I learned the importance of the Opportunity Cost concept when running an organization with many employees. You cannot do everything yourself, and assigning work to a team with diverse skills based on comparative advantage was essential to success.

What advice would you have for students starting out in Economics/what do you wish you could tell yourself if you could go back in time?

First of all, I’d tell myself to be less anxious about school and my career. It is important to think about and plan these things, but no one should expect to have this completely nailed down when they are 20 years old. As a student, I never planned to work in the public service, but that is where I had a long and very fulfilling career.

Secondly, I would emphasize the need to keep a balanced perspective on life between work and other things that matter, like friends, family, exercise, sports, and music. Obsessing about work at the cost of those other things is an unhealthy choice.

And last,  you will benefit tremendously from making sure you understand the key concepts of economics very well. They will help you in a lot of ways that you probably never expected.

Is there some industry or job area where you think there are underappreciated opportunities for economics graduates?

Public service. An extensive range of skill sets are needed to guide and deliver public policies and programs.  There is also a broad range of interesting subject matter areas to work within, from health care and education to government finances to national defence… and many in between. You also get an opportunity to grow and even re-invent yourself in the public service, which is hard to do in the private sector without changing employers.