Jonathan Walker

Jonathan Walker is a Managing Director with Secretariat Economists in Washington, DC. Dr. Walker was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Economists Incorporated prior to its transition to Secretariat Economists. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to his role managing the firm, Dr. Walker is often retained to provide opinion testimony in court and to consult on a variety of economic topics in a non-testifying capacity.

Dr. Walker’s consulting engagements most often concern antitrust, employment or damages. Dr. Walker’s antitrust work has addressed topics such as merger analysis, market definition, competitive effects, antitrust injury and quantification of damages. In the employment realm, he has conducted statistical analyses to measure disparities in employment outcomes across demographic groups. He has also conducted analyses related to class certification in wage-hour matters. Dr. Walker’s compensatory damages work has most often concerned contract damages, lost profits, disgorgement and diminution in value. Dr. Walker’s punitive damages work focuses on the economic theory of punitive damages including optimal fines and the adequacy or inadequacy of other incentives, besides punitive awards, to deter future wrongdoing.

Dr. Walker has been retained by plaintiffs and defendants alike. For example, on the plaintiff side, Dr. Walker recently worked for the U.S. Postal Service to estimate damages in its breach of contract and False Claims Act suit against Lance Armstrong. On the defendant side, Dr. Walker testified regarding competitive effects in a class action alleging restraint of trade in the shell egg industry.

Prior to joining Secretariat Economists, Dr. Walker had been a strategy consultant. Before that, he was a visiting research fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. There, he participated in antitrust enforcement and conducted research concerning the commercial banking industry.