Joseph Kennedy

Joseph Kennedy has worked as an economist and attorney in Washington for over two decades.  In the second Bush Administration he served as Chief Economist for the Department of Commerce. Prior positions include Senior Economist at the Joint Economic Committee in Congress, where he researched communications policy, and nanotechnology and General Counsel for the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

From 1993 to 2003 Dr. Kennedy worked as an Attorney/Economist for the Manufacturers Alliance (MAPI), a trade association representing American manufacturing companies.  While at MAPI, he published articles on a wide variety of legal and economic issues including encryption, climate change, Social Security, tort reform, and the future of manufacturing.  He also ran networking groups of senior manufacturing executives devoted to strategic planning, supply chain logistics, and research and development.

Previous positions include the House of Representatives Budget Committee, the law firm of Bishop, Cook, Purcell and Reynolds, and the Office of Management and Budget.

Dr. Kennedy grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He did his undergraduate work at Georgetown University and then earned a J.D. and M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota.  He completed his Ph.D. in Economics at George Washington University.

Dr. Kennedy is currently an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches a course on law and economics.

He recently authored Ending Poverty: Changing Behavior, Guaranteeing Income, and Reforming Government (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008).  He is married and has one son.