Eric Donald is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining Pitt in 2024, he received his PhD from Boston University and his BS from Texas Christian University. His research interests are in macro, public, and environmental economics.
In particular, as a macroeconomist focused on growth and optimal policy, Eric's research studies how policy should guide, and respond to, technological change. Some of his recent work argues for the importance of knowledge spillovers across technologies in determining the direction of innovation and that automation policy should exclusively focus on cases where machines are only marginally more productive than labor. He also has a research agenda focused on optimal policy in spatial economies. Broadly speaking, he is interested in normative questions pertaining to long-term welfare.