James Michael "Jim" Poterba, FBA is an American economist who is the Mitsui Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and current National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) president and chief executive officer.

He attended Pennsbury High School in Pennsylvania, where he won the 1976 championship of the National Forensic League in policy debate.

[8] Poterba started his career as an instructor in Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

[citation needed] Poterba is known for his research on how taxation affects the economic decisions of households and firms.

His research has emphasized the effect of taxation on the financial behavior of households, particularly their saving and portfolio decisions.