Jim received his Ph.D. in Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York.  He also holds an M.Phil. from Cambridge University, and a B.A. (Hons.) from the University of Calgary. Jim is also an Honorary Professor of Political Economy at the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney, and the Harold Innis Industry Professor in Economics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada (fractional appointment).

Jim is the author of Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism (second edition published by Pluto Books in 2015), which has been published in six languages.  He has written, edited or co-edited five other books, and dozens of articles and reports in both peer-reviewed and popular outlets.

Jim has designed and taught numerous courses on economics for academic and non-academic audiences, including a unique week-long popular education course in economics for trade union members he has delivered in Canada, the U.S.A., Australia, and New Zealand.  He is recognized for his ability to communicate economic concepts in an accessible and humorous manner.