Background
Poterba was born in New York City.
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James Michael
Edit Profileeconomist university professor
Education
He completed his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in 1980 from Harvard University and completed his Doctor of Philosophy in 1983 from University of Oxford.
Career
He was a Marshall Scholar. Poterba started his career as an Instructor in Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He became Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988. Today, he is the Mitsui Professor of Economics and the Head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Economics Department.
He became the president of the National Bureau of Economic on July 1, 2008.
Poterba is known for his research on how taxation affects the economic decisions of households and firms. His research has emphasized the effect of taxation on the financial behavior of households, particularly their saving and portfolio decisions.
He is also interested in the analysis of tax-deferred retirement saving programs such as 401(k) plans and in the role of annuities in financing retirement consumption. He has also been Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research Public Economics Program since 1991.
He has edited several economics journals.
Achievements
Membership
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. National Academy of Sciences]
He has served as a member of the President"s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform and edited the Journal of Public Economics, the leading international journal for research on taxation and government spending, between 1997 and 2006.
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Born
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Nationality
United States