James Starkey

starkey@uri.edu

 

 James Starkey, Professor. (Ph.D., Boston College, 1971.) Professor Starkey taught statistics at Boston College before coming to URI in 1967. Between 1968 and 1973 he worked on numerous research projects through the URI Center for Business and Economic Research and the RI Department of Health. He also served as a consultant to the RI State Budget Office, The New England Economic Project, several state Municipalities and the Governor's office. Governor Noel appointed him to the Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform in 1973. He presently sits on the Board of Governors of the RI Joint Reinsurance Association.

Professor Starkey is a member of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, the International Society for the Study of Ecological Economics, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  Professor Starkey’s research typically crosses several disciplines.  Professor Starkey teaches several courses which manifests his wide range of interests and competencies.  Professor Starkey began his career at URI in 1967 as a specialist in Public Finance and Econometrics.   Most of Professor Starkey’s work in this area was focused on building an econometric model for the State of RI to use in forecasting tax revenues.  He also did several cost-benefit, and economic impact analyses of various state and local projects.  Professor Starkey was partnered with Professor Geoffrey Booth on most of these projects.

In 1980, Professor Starkey added a course in The Economics of Race, Gender and Class (ECN386).  Professor Starkey has written all of the text materials for this course.  Over the years, Professor Starkey has published several papers on race and gender issues including three which involved martial instability, and one that was an intellectual history of the race views of John R. Commons (with Y. Ramstad).

In 2003, Professor Starkey introduced a new course (ECN398X) titled, Ecology, Economy and Society.  In this course, Professor Starkey explores the relationships between economies and the environment over time and across cultures.  The theme of the course is “fools learn from experience, wise men learn from history.”   Obviously, the human future is certain to collide with ecological reality just as was often the case in the human past.  It is imperative that we be better prepared than our ancestors.

Professor Starkey also teaches ECN201, Introduction to Microeconomics: An Ecological Perspective.  In this course Professor Starkey uses a text he co-authored with Alan Dolan and David Lindsey.

In 2003, Professor Starkey was invited to speak on “Public Finance in Political Perspective” at the Zeijiang University Institute of Economics and Finance in Hangzhou, China.  While in Hangzhou, Professor Starkey was able to meet with officials responsible for enforcing China’s environmental laws to discuss the problems of environmental regulation in China.   Professor Starkey has been invited to return to China and plans to do so for an extended stay on a future sabbatical leave.

Students interested in Professor Starkey's courses can find more information at www.uri.edu/artsci/ecn/starkey

Professor Starkey's classes are: