She is co-author with Michael Sanera of Facts, Not Fear: Teaching Children about the Environment, co-editor with Ronald D. Utt of A Guide to Smart Growth: Shattering Myths, Providing Solutions and also edits the Liberty and Ecology and Jane Takes on History blogs.

Before joining PERC, Shaw was Associate Economics Editor of Business Week. From 1977 to 1981, she was a Washington correspondent for McGraw-Hill Publications, where she wrote for Business Week and other McGraw-Hill magazines and newsletters; before that, she was a correspondent for McGraw-Hill in Chicago. She received her B.A. degree from Wellesley College.

She is a past President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE). She is the Editorial Advisor for Econ Journal Watch, a Member of the Editorial Advisory Panel of Regulation, a Senior Editor of Liberty, and a member of the Editorial Advisory Council of the Institute of Economic Affairs (London).