Georgia State University’s Robert Buschman Appointed State Economist

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian P. Kemp recently announced his appointment of Robert Buschman as Georgia’s state economist, effective Sept. 1. Buschman is interim director of the Public Finance Research Cluster in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.

“I look forward to benefiting from Dr. Buschman’s wealth of knowledge as he steps into this new role as a partner in crafting our state budget and ensuring our state economy remains strong,” Kemp said. “With his help, I’m confident we will continue to maintain our AAA bond rating, balance our state budgets and deliver more opportunity for hardworking Georgians.”

Along with leading the Public Finance Research Cluster at Georgia State, Buschman serves as a senior research associate and associate director of the Fiscal Research Center (FRC), where he is the key contact for fiscal note analyses of proposed Georgia revenue legislation, the state tax expenditure reports and tax incentive evaluations. He is also a senior research associate with the Center for State and Local Finance.

“We are all very excited about this great opportunity for our colleague Bob, whose wealth of experience and knowledge speaks for itself,” said Distinguished University Professor Ann-Margaret Esnard, interim dean of the Andrew Young School. “His appointment follows a long history of support that our college, Georgia State University leadership and our colleagues around the university have provided the Office of Planning and Budget to ensure the residents of Georgia are responsibly and well-served by their state.”

Buschman’s research interests include corporate and personal taxation, growth and equity effects of tax reform, state and local fiscal policy, and other fiscal matters. He has also taught macroeconomics at Georgia State University. Prior to joining Georgia State, Buschman worked for several years in corporate banking and corporate financial management. He holds a B.A. in economics from Duke University, an MBA in finance from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and both an M.A. (policy track) and Ph.D. in economics from Georgia State University.