Willem Buiter
Willem Buiter | |
|---|---|
| Born | Willem Hendrik Buiter September 26, 1949 The Hague, Netherlands |
| Occupation | Economist |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Known for | Chief Economist at Citigroup; professor of economics; member of Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England; Chief Economist at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development |
| Notable work | "Temporary Equilibrium and Long-Run Equilibrium" (dissertation) |
Willem Hendrik Buiter CBE (born 26 September 1949) is an economist holding both American and British citizenship. His professional journey has largely been rooted in academia, where he has held numerous academic posts. Most recently, as of December 2023, he occupied the position of Chief Economist at Citigroup.
Early life and education
Buiter was born in The Hague, Netherlands, and possesses dual nationality from the United States and the United Kingdom. His father, Harm Buiter, was a Dutch economist and political figure who also served as Mayor of Groningen.
He received his early education at the European School in Brussels from 1962 to 1967, where he earned the European Baccalaureate. After spending a year studying Political and Social Science at the University of Amsterdam, he transferred to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, graduating in 1971 with First-Class Honours in Economics. He then completed his M.A. in 1972 and M.Phil. in 1973, specializing in International Economics and Economic Development.
Buiter obtained his doctoral degree in economics from Yale University in 1975. His dissertation titled "Temporary Equilibrium and Long-Run Equilibrium" was later published in 1979.
Career
Between 1975–1976 and 1977–1979, Buiter served as an assistant professor of economics and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. He also lectured in economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science during 1976–1977. From 1980 to 1982, he held a professorship in economics at the University of Bristol.
He was affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research as a Research Associate within their Financial Markets and Monetary Economics Program from 1977 until 2011.
On April 1, 1982, Buiter was named Cassel Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, focusing on monetary theory and banking. He departed LSE in 1985 to join Yale University as an economics professor until 1994. In 1989, he was inducted as a correspondent member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 1994, Buiter became a Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge and took on the role of professor of International Macroeconomics at the University of Cambridge, positions he maintained until May 2000. From June 1997 to May 2000, he contributed as an external member on the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. Subsequently, from June 2000 through August 2005, he served as Chief Economist and Special Advisor to the President at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Between September 2005 and May 2009, Buiter was professor of European Political Economy at LSE’s European Institute. Concurrently, from 2005 to 2010, he acted as an International Advisor for Goldman Sachs International.
Buiter regularly wrote for the Financial Times, authoring the "Maverecon" blog until December 2009. In April 2008, together with Anne Sibert, he co-authored a study analyzing Iceland’s banking crisis for Landsbanki; an updated confidential version was subsequently submitted to Iceland’s government mid-2008 due to its market sensitivity.
From June 2009 until August 2011, he held a professorship in Political Economy at LSE's Centre for Economic Performance. Beginning January 2010, Buiter assumed the role of Chief Economist at Citigroup, succeeding Lewis Alexander. It is noteworthy that in April 2009 he had described Citigroup as "a conglomeration of worst practice from across the financial spectrum."
In December 2023, Buiter was elected fellow of the European Economic Association. Additionally, in 2021 he served as an adjunct professor within the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
Other engagements
- Advisory Scientific Committee member at the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB)
Personal background
Buiter entered into marriage with Jean Archer in 1973; their union ended in divorce in 1997. They have two children: David Michael Alejandro, born in 1991 in Callao, Peru, and Elizabeth Lorca, born in 1993 in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
On 5 June 1998, Buiter wed Anne Sibert, an economics professor at Birkbeck, University of London and former External Member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Iceland from 2009 to 2012. Sibert is recognized for her incisive evaluations of banking systems and European fiscal matters through her work with the Centre for Economic Policy Research, making her a prominent voice in economic policy discussions.
External links
- Willem Buiter's Maverecon, FT.com
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1949 births
- Living people
- English people of Dutch descent
- Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- English economists
- Goldman Sachs people
- Dutch economists
- Academics of the London School of Economics
- Writers from The Hague
- Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
- Princeton University faculty
- Academics of the University of Bristol
- Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge
- Columbia University faculty
- Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Institute for New Economic Thinking
- Fellows of the European Economic Association