Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund

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 chief economist is a member of the Senior Leadership of the IMF.[2]

"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."[3][4] 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 University at appointment
Edward Bernstein[5] 1946–1958
Jacques Polak[6][7][8] 1958–1980
William Hood[9][10] 1980–1987
Jacob Frenkel[11][12] 1987–1991 University of Chicago
Michael Mussa[13] August 1991 – 29 June 2001 University of Chicago
Kenneth Rogoff[14] August 2001 – September 2003 Harvard University
Raghuram Rajan[15] September 2003 – January 2007 University of Chicago
Simon Johnson[16] March 2007 – 31 August 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Olivier Blanchard[17] 1 September 2008 – 8 September 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Maurice Obstfeld[18] 8 September 2015 – 31 December 2018 University of California, Berkeley
Gita Gopinath[19][20][21] 1 January 2019 – 21 January 2022 Harvard University
Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas[22] 24 January 2022 – present University of California, Berkeley
  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. ^ "Senior Officials of the International Monetary Fund". IMF. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  3. ^ Zumbrun, Josh (July 25, 2018). "IMF Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld to Retire". Wall Street Journal.
  4. ^ Treanor, Jill (20 July 2015). "IMF appoints new chief economist". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Pace, Eric (10 June 1996). "New York Times Obituary: Dr. Bernstein went on to be the first director of research at the International Monetary Fund, from 1946 to 1958". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "Statement by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on the Death of Jacques Polak" (Press release). IMF. February 27, 2010.
  7. ^ "IMF Annual Report 1966" (PDF).
  8. ^ "IMF Annual Report 1979" (PDF).
  9. ^ "IMF Annual Report 1985" (PDF). www.imf.org. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  10. ^ "IMF Annual Report 1980" (PDF).
  11. ^ "Economist Rajan joins IMF". chronicle.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
  12. ^ Farnsworth, Clyde H.; Times, Special To the New York (1986-09-25). "I.M.F. FILLING A KEY POST". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  13. ^ "Mussa To Step Down as IMF Economic Counsellor News Brief No. 01/25 March 7, 2001".
  14. ^ "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".
  15. ^ "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".
  16. ^ "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".
  17. ^ "IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn Announces Department Director Appointments Press Release No. 08/122 May 27, 2008".
  18. ^ "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".
  19. ^ "Christine Lagarde Appoints Gita Gopinath as IMF Chief Economist".
  20. ^ "IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath to Return to Harvard University". IMF. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  21. ^ "First Deputy Managing Director Geoffrey Okamoto to Leave IMF, Gita Gopinath to Be IMF's New First Deputy Managing Director". IMF. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  22. ^ "IMF Managing Director Names Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas as IMF Economic Counsellor and Head of Research Department". IMF. Retrieved 2022-01-10.