Early has served twice as assistant commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, where he directed the statistical design, economic analysis, and survey operations for the Consumer Price Index, Consumer Expenditure Survey, Point of Purchase Survey, Producer Price Index, and Current Employment Survey.
He coauthored The Myth of American Inequality with Phil Gramm and Robert Ekelund and has published 90 papers and articles with various organizations and publications, including the Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Brookings Institution, Juran Institute, and American Society for Quality.
Early holds a BA in economics and political science from Rice University and an MA in international political economy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.