Benjamin Powell

Benjamin Powell is a Professor of Economics at Texas Tech University's Rawls College of Business. His research focuses on political economy, immigration, and economic development, with a particular emphasis on global labor markets and economic freedom.

• Books: Author of Out of Poverty: Sweatshops in the Global Economy (2014) and Socialism Sucks (2019), co-author of Wretched Refuse (2020).
• Research: Explores the unintended consequences of economic policies, including sweatshop labor, immigration impacts, and market-based solutions to poverty.
• Media: Regularly contributes to outlets like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Economist, and appears on Fox News, CNN, and CNBC.

His work has been cited over 2,500 times and spans topics such as economic freedom indices, pandemic policy tradeoffs, and labor market dynamics. Powell holds a PhD in Economics from George Mason University and a BS in Finance and Economics from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.