Branch of Federal Bureau Compiling Statistics Here

The only group in the University which carries cooperation with the government to the point of being an actual Federal agency, the Harvard Group of the Bureau of Labor Statistics is now at work in Littauer Center coordinating the statistical information necessary for the settlement of post-war economic problems.

A division of the U. S. Bureau, the project is under the direction of Wassily W. Leontief, associate professor of Economics, and was established here at his request to avoid the confusion of a wartime Washington.

While the group does make occasional recommendations of its own, its primary interest lies with the attempt to correlate the mass of statistical data collected by almost every governmental agency. Up to 15 experts have been working on such projects as a chart showing the relative importance of every large industry, the sources of its materials, and the uses to which its products are put. Requiring an area measuring 12 feet by 13 feet, this particular chart cost the government over $15,000.

According to Leontief, the experience of the unit shows that full cooperation between the colleges and the government is possible in non-scientific fields. It is more than a group of University experts working for the government, for it is so well established here that Federal officials often come to Cambridge to cooperate in its work.

The close cooperation between government agencies is another of the reasons for the success of the project, he added. It completed work this fall on its reports correlating information gathered by such groups as the departments of agriculture and commerce, and will spend the winter correcting and revising it for publication this spring.

The bureau is also engaged in work with a more direct bearing on the war, with special emphasis on the manpower problem. According to Leontief, the variety of projects under way will keep the group active at least for the duration.