James D. Gwartney holds the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University, where he directs the Stavros Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Economic Education. He is the coauthor of Economics: Private and Public Choice, a widely used principles of economics text now in its 15th edition; and  an economics primer,  Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity. He  is also the co-author of the annual report, "Economic Freedom of the World," which provides information on the consistency of institutions and policies with economic freedom for more than 150 countries.  His publications have appeared in numerous scholarly journals. During 1999-2000, he served as Chief Economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the U. S. Congress.  He is a past President of the Southern Economic Association and the Association of Private Enterprise Education. His Ph.D. in economics is from the University of Washington.