ASCE-CPE Interview Series: A Conversation with Carmen Reinhart, Vice President and World Bank Group Chief Economist

 

 

 The Association for the Study of the Cuba Economy (ASCE) with the support of the Coalition for Peace and Ethics (CPE), has undertaken an interview series. The object of this series is to draw attention to the work of leading scholars and actors involved in the examination of Cuban society, culture, politics, law, and economics from a national, regional or international perspective. 

It is with great pleasure that ASCE is able to share a profoundly fascinating conversation, recorded earlier this year, Carmen Reinhart, Vice President and World Bank Group Chief Economist. She assumed this role on June 15, 2020, and manages the Bank’s Development Economics Department. The conversation included the senior members of the ASCE's membership, each an accomplished economist or diplomat: Lorenzo Pérez, Joaquin Pujol, Ernesto Hernández Catá, Jorge Sanguinetty, Rafael Romeu,  and Gary Maybarduk. The conversation was wide ranging and touched on the most pressing topics of global trade, finance, and globalization affecting virtually all peoples. The conversation also touched on the challenges for women  in the profession.

Dr. Reinhart comes to this position on public service leave from Harvard Kennedy School where she is the Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System. Previously, she was the Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for International Economics at the University of Maryland. During her career, Reinhart has worked in numerous roles to address policy challenges including most recently, the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact. She serves in the Advisory Panels of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the International Monetary Fund. Earlier, she was the Senior Policy Advisor and Deputy Director of the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund and held positions as Chief Economist and Vice President at the investment bank Bear Stearns.  Ranked among the top Economists worldwide based on publications and scholarly citations, Reinhart has been listed among Bloomberg Markets Most Influential 50 in Finance, Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers, and Thomson Reuters' The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds.  In 2018 she was awarded the King Juan Carlos Prize in Economics and NABE’s Adam Smith Award, among others. Her book (with Kenneth S. Rogoff)  entitled This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly  has been translated to over 20 languages and won the Paul A. Samuelson Award. She holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

We hope you find the discussion interesting and thought provoking We welcome your views. The video is posted to the CPE YouTube Channel (ASCE Interview Series Playlist) and the specific interview may be accessed HERE.