The Chief Economist for the US Department of Agriculture is in Athens today: Robert Johansson delivers the University of Georgia's annual JW Fanning Lecture, 10 o'clock this morning at the downtown Holiday Inn on Broad Street in Athens.
From the USDA…
Robert Johansson serves as Chief Economist at the Department of Agriculture (USDA). As Chief Economist, he is responsible for the Department's agricultural forecasts and projections and for advising the Secretary of Agriculture on economic implications of alternative programs, regulations, and legislative proposals. He is responsible for the Office of the Chief Economist, the World Agricultural Outlook Board, the Office of Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit analysis, the Global Change Program Office, the Office of Environmental Markets, and the Office of Energy Policy and New Uses.
Since 2001, he has worked as an economist at USDA (both at the Economic Research Service and in the Office of the Chief Economist), in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, and at the Congressional Budget Office. In 2011 he was appointed senior economist for energy, environment, and agriculture on the President's Council of Economic Advisers where he also participated on the White House Rural Council and the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Since 2012, Dr. Johansson has been serving as Deputy Chief Economist at the USDA.
Dr. Johansson received B.A. in economics from Northwestern University and then served with the U.S. Peace Corps as an extension agent in several African countries from 1990 to 1995. After returning to his home State of Minnesota, he entered the graduate program in Agricultural Economics at the University of Minnesota at received his M.S. in 1997 and Ph.D. in 2000. His research has spanned a wide range of issues, including biofuels policy, water quality and quantity policies, regulatory economics, food security, and regional modeling of agricultural systems.
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