Creating Control Systems: Edwin F. Gay and the Central Bureau of Planning and Statistics, 1917–1919

In tracing the work of Edwin Gay in the mobilization effort during the First World War, this article presents an intriguing picture of the wartime administration's gradual realization of its need for more accurate information for central economic and political decision making. Although Gay's specific agency was short-lived, the work he did, and the viewpoint he represented, contributed significantly to the search for coherent administration in the executive branch.