Michael Greenstone is an energy and environmental economist.
His research is focused on finding solutions to the global energy challenge that requires society to balance the goals of access to inexpensive and reliable energy that is critical for growth, while limiting environment damages and reducing the probability of disruptive climate change. Greenstone is the Milton Friedman Professor in Economics, the College, and the Harris School, as well as the Director of the Becker Friedman Institute and the interdisciplinary Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.
He previously served as the Chief Economist for President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, where he co-led the development of the United States Government’s social cost of carbon. He also is a former member of the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board. Greenstone is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and an editor of the Journal of Political Economy. Greenstone also directed the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, which studies policies to promote economic growth, and has since joined its Advisory Council. Before coming to Chicago, Greenstone was the 3M Professor of Environmental Economics at MIT. Greenstone received a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University and B.A. from Swarthmore College.
