Jeff Rubin
Jeff Rubin | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 24, 1954 Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Economist, author |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Known for | Chief economist at CIBC World Markets, senior fellow at Centre for International Governance Innovation |
Jeff Rubin (born August 24, 1954) is a Canadian economist and author, formerly serving as the chief economist at CIBC World Markets, and presently holds a senior fellowship at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
Rubin began his tenure with CIBC World Markets and its antecedent companies in 1988, ascending to the role of chief economist in 1992, a position he maintained until his departure in 2009.
Education and early career
Rubin obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Toronto and completed a Master of Arts at McGill University. His professional journey started within the Ontario Government Treasury Department, where he specialized in forecasting interest rate movements.
Economic forecasts
In 1988, Rubin joined the brokerage firm Wood Gundy, which was subsequently acquired by CIBC and rebranded first as CIBC Wood Gundy and later as CIBC World Markets. He earned acclaim for his precise predictions concerning shifts in interest rates and fluctuations in the Canadian dollar. In the early 1990s, he anticipated a significant downturn in Ontario’s real estate sector. Rubin was among the pioneering economists to predict rising oil prices around the year 2000 and has since been recognized as an influential voice on issues related to oil depletion and its economic consequences. Nonetheless, his forecast in 2008 that oil prices would surge to $225 per barrel by 2012 did not materialize, as prices plummeted in 2009 and remained comparatively low until 2016.
Publications
Rubin contributes a weekly blog to both The Globe and Mail and the Huffington Post, frequently incorporating fishing metaphors.
His 2009 publication, Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization (), received the Canadian Business Book of the Year award and was translated into several languages for international release. A second Canadian edition was issued in 2010.
His follow-up book, The End of Growth - but is that all bad? (Random House, ), was published in Canada in May 2012 and later released in the United States under the title The Big Flatline - Oil and the No-Growth Economy () in October 2012. Rubin’s third work, The Carbon Bubble - What Happens to us When it Bursts, appeared in Canada in May 2015. His fourth book, The Expendables - How the Middle Class Got Screwed By Globalization, came out in August 2020.
In May 2024, Rubin released A Map of the New Normal: How Inflation, War and Sanctions Will Change Your World Forever, which examines how central banks’ COVID-19 responses sparked inflation across commodities and wages. He contends that relocating industrial production from low-wage nations such as China enhances workers’ negotiating leverage, particularly for unionized employees. Additionally, Rubin underscores the growing geopolitical significance of grain, observing that Russia might limit grain exports to countries opposing its military objectives.
List of works
- Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization (2009)
- The End of Growth (2012)
- The Carbon Bubble: What Happens to Us When It Bursts (2015)
- The Expendables: How the Middle Class Got Screwed By Globalization (2020)
- A Map of the New Normal: How Inflation, War and Sanctions Will Change Your World Forever (2024)
External links
- Jeff Rubin discussing global oil usage, Seattle, June 8, 2009
- Interview with Jeff Rubin by Ralph Benmergui, June 18, 2009
- Jeff Rubin featured on CBC's The Hour
- Presentation by Jeff Rubin, January 2010
- Official blog of Jeff Rubin