James Griffin

James Griffin is a Senior Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the George Bush School at Texas A & M University, where he holds the title of Bob Bullock Chair in Public Policy and Finance Emeritus. His career at Texas A & M spans more than three decades. At the Bush School, he served as the founding director of the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics & Public Policy. Prior to joining the Bush School in 2002, Dr. Griffin held the Cullen Professorship in the Department of Economics at Texas A & M. His previous academic positions include the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Houston. He is a Humboldt Fellow included in Who’s Who in Economics, and he serves on the editorial boards of three journals specializing in energy economics. Griffin is also a director in the Berkeley Research Group, a boutique consulting firm specializing in economics and finance with offices worldwide.

Most recently his research interests have focused on ground and surface water issues in Texas. Griffin has directed three separate capstone projects for Bush School students analyzing (i) methods to incentivize the use of brackish (instead of fresh) groundwater for fracking (ii) alternatives to the current groundwater regulatory apparatus and (iii) the reform of surface water regulation. His students in the both groundwater and surface water reports were awarded the prestigious McGrew Prize for best research by students participating in masters programs in public policy and administration. Key elements of the groundwater study are found in “Interjecting Economics into the Groundwater Policy Dialogue” in a 2017 issue of the Texas Water Journal. In April 2018, He helped organize an academic conference at the Bush School entitled “Rethinking Texas Water Policy.”