Professional History
Gregg Erickson, 66, was raised in Anchorage, Alaska. In 1966 Erickson joined the University of Alaska's Institute of Social and Economic Research as a resources economist. In 1972 he left Alaska to take an appointment as a research fellow with Resources for the Future, a Washington, D.C., think-tank.
Erickson’s work in energy economics at RFF led to appointment in 1973 to the staff of the late Sen. Henry M. ("Scoop") Jackson, and later to the staffs of the U.S. Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Government Operations’ Permanent Investigations Subcommittee.
In early 1976, Mr. Erickson returned to Alaska to become director of research for the Alaska Legislature, where he helped draft a constitutional amendment establishing the Alaska Permanent Fund, and where he played a role in overhauling of state’s oil tax policies. In 1984 Erickson joined the Alaska Office of the Governor, as senior economist, where he served under Govs. Bill Sheffield and Steve Cowper. In 1989, following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, he was appointed to direct the state’s efforts on Oil Spill Impact Assessment and Restoration.
In 1991, Erickson left state government, opened Erickson & Associates, and founded the Alaska Budget Report, a weekly newsletter published during the legislative session. He remains associated with the newsletter as editor-at-large. He has served since 2001 as a trustee of the New York-based Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.
He is co-author of Mineral Policy and the Public Lands, editor of two other books, and the author of more than 130 articles, papers and monographs on Alaska economics, public finance and fiscal policy issues. He writes a monthly column for the Anchorage Daily News on economic and policy issues. He is married and has four grown children.