William J. “Joey” Smith is a professor of economics, the David A. Johnson Distinguished Scholar, and Chair of the Department of Economics at the University of West Georgia. His areas of expertise are program participation, state and local taxation, and urban and regional economics, focusing on the West Georgia region. Joey has provided expert and technical research for energy providers, the Georgia State Legislature, and private businesses. Formerly, Joey worked as a Senior Research Associate for the Fiscal Research Center (FRC) at Georgia State University. While working at the FRC, Joey specialized in county growth patterns of the Atlanta metro area, Georgia tax policies, and welfare reform. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgia State University. His email address is wjsmith@​westga.edu.