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Jobs: January 1993-November 1999. This study documented the strong jobgrowth of the past 7 years and found evidence that a high proportion of thenew jobs were in industry and occupation categories that pay wages abovethe median.The Council has taken an active role in reviewing and analyzing progress inthe telecommunications industry and other growing sectors of the digitaleconomy. In February the Council released a white paper titled ProgressReport: Growth and Competition in U.S. Telecommunications, 1993-1998.The Council has also been active in ongoing interagency discussions involvingthe digital economy and has recently assumed a leading role in facilitatingwork on the topic. Work in progress includes reviewing and improving datacollection activities to better assess the growth of electronic commerce; participationin the new OECD Growth Project initiated at the May 1999 meetingof the OECD Council at the Ministerial level; and economic analysis ofpolicy-related costs and barriers to electronic commerce.The Council has also participated actively in interagency discussions onregulation and competition policy. On the domestic front, the Council hasbeen involved in discussions about merger policy, rail policy regarding interconnections,and the performance of agricultural markets. Discussions regardingregulatory reform in the broadcast industry and in the air traffic controlsystem have also been ongoing, as has the monitoring of issues related to theprivatization of the U.S. Enrichment Corporation. The Council has beenactively involved in several issues relating to international regulation andcompetition, including the effects of gray market imports, and has undertakeninteragency discussions regarding the role of competition policy in theWorld Trade Organization.The Council was active during 1999 in a range of policy discussions onnatural resources and the environment, including implementation of theClean Air Act as it applies to automobiles, petroleum refineries, power plants,and other pollution sources. Council Members and staff participated in severalAdministration efforts to assess oil supply issues, including the effects ofoil imports on the U.S. economy and planning for potential Y2K oil supplydisruptions. The Council has also contributed to Administration initiatives onnational forest management.Continuing the Council’s involvement in the analysis of the Administration’sglobal climate change policy, Dr. Yellen testified on two occasions beforeSenate and House committees on the economic implications of the KyotoProtocol. At a high-level OECD meeting on climate change, Dr. Lawrenceparticipated in a discussion on developing country participation in the KyotoProtocol. The Council has been active in developing and promoting plans forthe international trading of emissions permits and other market mechanismsto achieve the protocol’s targets as efficiently as possible. It has also workedAppendix A | 293