IMF Chief Economist

The Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also the Economic Counsellor and Director of the Fund's Research Department and is responsible for providing independent advice to the Fund on its policy issues, integrating ideas of the research in the design of policies, conveying these ideas to the policymakers inside and outside the fund and managing all research done at IMF.[1]

"The job is one of the most prestigious in the field, and has been held by some of the most prominent academic researchers in international economics."[2][3] The Chief Economist is part of the senior leadership team, directly advises the Managing Director, and leads about a hundred Ph.D. economists in the Research Department.

The Research Department publishes working papers on highly relevant policy and research issues in international economics; produces a number of reports including the widely tracked annual World Economic Outlook; organizes conferences including the Annual Research Conference that brings together top economists and policymakers; and publishes the peer reviewed journal IMF Economic Review.

The position has been held by the following:

Name Term
Edward M. Bernstein[4] 1946-1958
Jacques (JJ) Polak[5][6][7] 1958-1980
William C. Hood[8][9] 1980-1987
Jacob Frenkel[10] 1987-1991
Michael Mussa[11] August 1991 – 29 June 2001
Kenneth Rogoff[12] August 2001 – September 2003
Raghuram Rajan[13] September 2003 – January 2007
Simon Johnson[14] March 2007 – 31 August 2008
Olivier Blanchard[15] 1 September 2008 – 8 September 2015
Maurice Obstfeld[16] 8 September 2015 – 31 December 2018
Gita Gopinath[17] 1 January 2019 –

First woman Chief Economist of the IMF

After the announcement of Maurice Obstfeld's retirement in December 2018,[18] Harvard professor Gita Gopinath, a leading scholars in exchange rates, sovereign debt and capital flows was appointed as chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).[19] Gita Gopinath, the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard University's economics department will be the first woman to hold this position.[20] Gopinath, who was born in India, received her Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 2001 after earning a B.A. from the University of Delhi and M.A. degrees from both the Delhi School of Economics and University of Washington.[21]

Gopinath is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Econometric Society. She is the recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians by the Government of India, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Washington. She was named among Bloomberg 50people who defined 2019, Foreign Policy named her one of the Top Global Thinkers in 2019 and Time Magazine named her among the Women who Broke Major Barriers to Become 'Firsts' in 2019. Earlier the IMF named her one of the top 25 economists under 45 in 2014, Financial Times named her one of the 25 Indians to Watch in 2012, and she was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011.[22]

See also

References
  1. Frederic S. Mishkin; Francesco Giavazzi; T. N. Srinivasan (2000). External Evaluation of IMF Economic Research Activities. International Monetary Fund. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-55775-862-0.
  2. Zumbrun, Josh (July 25, 2018). "IMF Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld to Retire". Wall Street Journal.
  3. Treanor, Jill (20 July 2015). "IMF appoints new chief economist". The Guardian.
  4. "New York Times Obituary: Dr. Bernstein went on to be the first director of research at the International Monetary Fund, from 1946 to 1958".
  5. "Statement by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on the Death of Jacques Polak" (Press release). IMF. February 27, 2010.
  6. "IMF Annual Report 1966" (PDF).
  7. "IMF Annual Report 1979" (PDF).
  8. "IMF Annual Report 1985" (PDF). www.imf.org. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  9. "IMF Annual Report 1980" (PDF).
  10. "Economist Rajan joins IMF". chronicle.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  11. "Mussa To Step Down as IMF Economic Counsellor News Brief No. 01/25 March 7, 2001".
  12. "IMF Managing Director Köhler Proposes Stanford University's Krueger As First Deputy And Names Three Department Heads Press Release No. 01/27 June 7, 2001".
  13. "IMF Managing Director Köhler Proposes Raghuram Rajan as Economic Counsellor and Director of the IMF's Research Department Press Release No. 03/100 July 2, 2003".
  14. "IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato Proposes Simon Johnson as Economic Counsellor and Director of the IMF's Research Department Press Release No. 07/34 February 28, 2007".
  15. "IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn Announces Department Director Appointments Press Release No. 08/122 May 27, 2008".
  16. "IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde Appoints Maurice Obstfeld as Economic Counsellor and Director of the IMF's Research Department Press Release No.15/343 July 20, 2015".
  17. "Christine Lagarde Appoints Gita Gopinath as IMF Chief Economist".
  18. https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2018/07/25/pr18307-imf-chief-economist-maurice-obstfeld-to-retire
  19. "Wall Street Journal: IMF Appoints Harvard's Gita Gopinath as Chief Economist".
  20. "Financial Times: IMF appoints Harvard's Gita Gopinath as first woman chief economist".
  21. "The Economist: Gita's go - A fresh face, and fresh thinking on exchange rates".
  22. "Harvard University Economics Department-Professor Gita Gopinath".
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