Harvard’s Carmen Reinhart Named World Bank Chief Economist

[Ed. Note: Quote: “Reinhart […] is the third person in the past three years to hold the position of World Bank chief economist.” Well… I think we can all agree that’s a sure and certain sign of total stability.]

by Eric Martin
Yahoo! Finance

(Bloomberg) — The World Bank named Harvard University professor Carmen Reinhart as its chief economist, tapping an expert in the history of debt and financial crises as the global economy suffers its deepest downturn since the Great Depression.

The appointment is effective June 15, President David Malpass said in a statement Wednesday. Reinhart is known as co-author, with Kenneth Rogoff, of the 2009 book “This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly.” The book made them go-to resources on the history of government defaults, recessions, bank runs, currency sell-offs, and inflationary spikes.

Reinhart joins the World Bank at a time when Malpass has expressed concern that 60 million people may fall into extreme poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Malpass this week urged private creditors and the world’s poorest nations to accelerate debt relief talks to help mobilize resources for healthcare and the economy, and he expressed frustration about the slow pace of progress.

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