2/6/2015 IMF Lists 25 Brightest Young Economists

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/imf­lists­25­brightest­young­economists­1462827 1/5

Economy

By Boby Michael

August 27, 2014 14:52 BST

IMF

IMF Lists 25 Brightest Young Economists

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified twenty-five young economists whoit expects will shape the world's thinking about the global economy in the future.

The list of bright, young economists (they are all aged under 45) is dominated byAmericans who share US nationality with other countries like France, India, Australia andCanada. There are also representatives from the UK, Russia and Argentina.

The IMF has prepared the list after surveying international economists, journalists andother readers, which will appear in the September volume of Finance & Development,published on 27 August.

Another important feature most of those who made it to the list share is their place ofstudy. Except two, all had their advanced studies done in a famous US institute.

Here is the list of institutes: MIT-five, Harvard - six, Princeton - two, University of Chicago- three, New York University - two, University of California - one, University of Columbia -one, University of Stanford - two, Peterson Institute - one. The non-US institutions are theLondon Business School, and Paris School of Economics.

American Melissa Dell and Russian Oleg Itskhoki, both 31, are the youngest ones in thelist.

And here is the list of economists.

1. Nicholas Bloom, 41, British, Stanford University, uses quantitative research to measureand explain management practices across firms and countries. He also researches thecauses and consequences of uncertainty and studies innovation and informationtechnology.

2. Amy Finkelstein, 40, American, MIT, researches the impact of pub- lic policy on healthcare systems, government intervention in health insurance markets, and market failures.

3. Raj Chetty, 35, Indian and American, Harvard University, received his Ph.D. at age 23.

2/6/2015 IMF Lists 25 Brightest Young Economists

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He combines empirical evidence and economic theory to research how to improvegovernment pol- icy decisions in areas such as tax policy, unemployment insurance,education, and equality of opportunity.

4. Melissa Dell, 31, American, Harvard, examines poverty and insecurity through therelationship between state and non-state actors and economic development, and studieshow reforms such as government crackdowns on drug violence can influence economicoutcomes.

5. Kristin Forbes, 44, American, Bank of England and MIT, has held positions in bothacademia and the economic policy sphere, where she applies her research to policyquestions related to international macroeconomics and finance.

6. Roland Fryer, 37, American, Harvard, focuses on the social and political economics ofrace and inequality in the United States. His research investigates economic disparitythrough the development of new economic theory and the implementation ofrandomized experiments.

7. Xavier Gabaix, 43, French, New York University (NYU), has researched behavioraleconomics, finance, and macro- economics, including corporate executives'compensation levels and asset pricing.

8. Gita Gopinath, 42, American and Indian, Harvard, studies internationalmacroeconomics and trade with a focus on sovereign debt, the response of internationalprices to exchange rate movements, and the rapid shifts in relative value among worldcurrencies.

9. Esther Duflo, 42, French and American, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)and the Jameel Poverty Action Lab, focuses on microeconomic issues in developingeconomies, including household behavior, education, access to finance, health, andpolicy evaluation.

10. Matthew Gentzkow, 39, American, University of Chicago, applies micro- economicempirical methods to the economics of the news media, including the economic forcesdriving the creation of media products, the media and the digital environment, and themedia's effect on education and civic engagement.

11. Emmanuel Farhi, 35, French, Harvard, is a macroeconomist who focuses onmonetary economics, international economics, finance and public finance, includingresearch on global imbalances, monetary and fiscal policy, and taxation.

2/6/2015 IMF Lists 25 Brightest Young Economists

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12. Oleg Itskhoki, 31, Russian, Princeton University, specializes in macroeconomics andinternational economics with a focus on globalization, inequality and labor market out-comes, international relative prices and exchange rates, and macroeconomic policy inopen economies.

13. Hélène Rey, 44, French, London Business School, focuses on the determinants andconsequences of external trade and financial imbalances, the theory of financial crises,and the organization of the international monetary system.

14. Emmanuel Saez, 41, French and American, University of California, Berkeley, isrecognized for using both theoretical and empirical approaches to income inequality andtax policy.

15. Jonathan Levin, 41, American, Stanford, is an expert on industrial organization andmicroeconomic theory, specifically on the economics of contracting, organizations, andmarket design.

16. Atif Mian, 39, Pakistani and American, Princeton, studies the connections betweenfinance and the macro economy. He is coauthor of the critically acclaimed House ofDebt, which builds on powerful new data to describe how debt precipitated the GreatRecession and continues to threaten the global economy.

17. Emi Nakamura, 33, Canadian and American, Columbia University, is amacroeconomist whose fields of research include monetary and fiscal policy, businesscycles, finance, exchange rates, and macreconomic measurement.

18. Nathan Nunn, 40, Canadian, Harvard, focuses his research on economic history,economic development, political econ- omy and international trade. Of particular interestis the long-term impact of historic events such as slave trade and colonial rule oneconomic development.

19. Parag Pathak, 34, American, MIT, played a role in apply- ing engineering approachesto microeconomics. His research focuses on market design, education and urbaneconomics.

20. Thomas Philippon, 40, French, NYU, studies the interactions of finance andmacroeconomics: risk premia and corporate investment, financial crisis and systemicrisk, and the evolution of financial intermediation.

21. Amit Seru, 40, Indian, University of Chicago, researches financial intermediation andregulation as well as issues related to corporate finance, including resource allocation

2/6/2015 IMF Lists 25 Brightest Young Economists

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within and between firms, and organizational incentives.

22. Amir Sufi, 37, American, University of Chicago, is coauthor of House of Debt. Hestudies links between finance and the macro economy, including the effect of houseprices on spending and the effect of corporate finance on investment.

23. Iván Werning, 40, Argentine, MIT, is a macroeconomist who aims to improve tax andunemployment insurance policies via theoretical economic models. As well as optimaltaxation, he studies stabilization and monetary policy, including macroprudential policy.

24. Justin Wolfers, 41, Australian and American, Peterson Institute for InternationalEconomics and University of Michigan (on leave), studies labor economics,macroeconomics, political economy, law and economics, social policy, and behavioraleconomics. In addition to his research, Wolfers is a columnist for The New York Times.

25. Thomas Piketty, 43, French, Paris School of Economics, is known for his research,with Emmanuel Saez, on the distribution of income and wealth. His bestseller, Capital inthe Twenty-First Century, argues that global inequality will increase because the rate ofcapital return in developed economies is higher than the rate of economic growth,exacerbating wealth inequality.

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Bozhidar Hristov Sep 2, 2014

I would add Zoltan Pozsar.

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Jack Antunes Rosa Sep 1, 2014

I think this list of economists perhaps one day, we may check the levels of inequality in thedistribution of income and wealth, both developed nations and for underdeveloped.

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intechsolutions srinu Sep 1, 2014

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Mario Pansera Aug 29, 2014

wow not surprisingly 100% are from mainstream non-sense! the gotha of Anglo-Saxon

2/6/2015 IMF Lists 25 Brightest Young Economists

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/imf­lists­25­brightest­young­economists­1462827 5/5

economic-idiocy. does the IMF know that outside US and UK there is a world of peopleacting and thinking exactly the opposite of those 'young bright' elite ? this is not a list of thebest, the is ... more

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Svetislav Meandzija Aug 28, 2014

What a stupid article. Economy? Exact science? Do they have a glass ball to tell us thefuture? What a laugh!

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