James M. Griffin

Dr. James M. Griffin (or Dr. G as his students know him) wears a number of hats at the Bush School and elsewhere. Besides teaching micro-economic theory and energy policy courses, he was the founding director of the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy and still leads its Energy in a Global Economy program. He holds the Bob Bullock Chair in Public Policy and Finance and is a director in the Berkeley Research Group, a boutique economic consulting house. His ties to Texas A&M run deep as he was a professor in the Department of Economics from 1983-2001 before moving to the Bush School. Dr. Griffin is a fourth generation Texan and enjoys ranching in his spare time. He holds a BA in mathematics and economics from Southern Methodist University ('66) and a PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania ('70). He is a Humboldt Fellow, a member of Who's Who in Economics, and serves on the editorial board of three journals specializing in energy economics. His research has resulted in six books and over 50 refereed journal articles. His research interests span a variety of public policy areas ranging from energy policy to the effects of technological change on various industries. He has maintained a long-standing interest in energy policy, having co-authored the leading textbook in the field. In 2009, he made the case for a carbon tax in A Smart Energy Policy: An Economist's Rx for Balancing Cheap, Clean, and Secure Energy published by Yale University Press. His current research interests are U.S. ethanol policy and the use of fresh groundwater for fracking.