About

SMU and the launched the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative in June 2018. The partnership brings together the SMU Department of Economics and the George W. Bush Institute, the public policy arm of the Bush Center, to advance research and policy ideas that promote economic growth and opportunity in the United States and around the world.

By combining the Bush Institute’s policy expertise with the research strengths of SMU faculty, the Initiative connects academic scholarship with some of today’s most pressing economic policy questions. The collaboration also expands opportunities for SMU economists to contribute their expertise to public policy discussions at the local, national and global levels.

For the Bush Institute, the partnership broadens and deepens its economic policy research through collaboration with scholars at a leading research university. Building on the Institute’s work in areas such as international trade and immigration, the Initiative provides additional academic expertise and creates opportunities to examine a wider range of domestic and international economic issues.

Scholars and thought leaders

The Initiative brings leading economists, policymakers and other experts to SMU and the Bush Center to share their research and perspectives. Visiting Fellows have included Professors Mary Lovely, David Weil and Kyle Bagwell, whose areas of expertise include U.S.-China economic relations, technological change and its effects on the U.S. economy, and the role of multilateral institutions in international trade.

Other guests have included Robert Zoellick, former president of the World Bank and U.S. deputy secretary of state, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office.

Research with real-world relevance

Through research, publications, fellowships and collaboration, the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative provides a platform for SMU economists to contribute to important economic policy conversations. The partnership combines the academic expertise of the SMU Department of Economics with the policy experience of the Bush Institute to advance research and ideas focused on expanding economic growth and opportunity.