French economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas has been named as the next chief economist for The International Monetary Fund (IMF). He will succeed Gita Gopinath by joining as the First Deputy Managing Director with the IMF management team.
Gourinchas said on Twitter, “I am deeply honored to be appointed as the IMF’s new Economic Counselor and Director of Research. I look forward very much to working with the new IMF colleagues”. He is due to take over his role as the Fund’s chief economist on January 24. As soon as he finishes his teaching obligations, he will begin serving as chief economist of the Fund part-time until April 1 when he will assume full responsibility.
Gourinchas holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in 2007 won the Bernacer Prize for the Best European economist under 40. He also received the prize in 2008 for working in macroeconomics and finance for best French Economist under 40. Currently, he is at Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley, the S.K. and Angela Chan Professor of Global Management. Consumption precautionary savings, fiscal federalism, lending booms, labor markets along exchange rates are a few areas of his interest.
