MIT professor to lead economic research bureau

The National Bureau of Economic Research, best known for determining the beginning and end of US recessions, yesterday named MIT economics professor James Poterba as its next president.

Poterba, who takes the post July 1, succeeds a Harvard economics professor, Martin Feldstein, who said in September that he would step down after leading the Cambridge nonprofit for nearly 30 years.

The bureau investigates a wide range of economic and policy issues, relying on more than 900 professors, including some the nation’s most accomplished economists.

Poterba, 49, is among the leading authorities on how taxes affect the behavior of companies, households, and individuals. He holds degrees in economics from Harvard and from Oxford University and has taught at MIT since 1982, becoming chairman of the economics department in 2006.
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)