He is frequently sought by media outlets such as The Economist and Wall Street Journal to provide comment and his opinion on current events.
[4][5][6] He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Prior to his appointment to as professor at Dartmouth, Irwin was an associate professor of business economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an economist for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and an economist for the Council of Economic Advisers Executive Office of the president.
[11] His books include: Irwin has received numerous grants and awards, including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Principal Investigator fellowship and a National Science Foundation grant.
In 2024, Irwin signed a faculty letter expressing support for the actions of Dartmouth College president Sian Beilock, who ordered the arrests of 90 students and faculty members nonviolently protesting the Israel-Hamas war.