Irwin is the John Sloan Dickey Third Century Professor in the Social Sciences in the Economics Department at Dartmouth College and the author of seven books.
He is an expert on both past and present U.S.
trade policy, especially policy during the Great Depression.
He is frequently sought by media outlets such as The Economist and Wall Street Journal to provide comment and his opinion on current events.
He also writes Op-Eds and articles about trade for mainstream media outlets like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Financial Times.Prior to his appointment to as professor at Dartmouth, Irwin was an Associate Professor of Business Economics at the University of Chicago Graduate 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.