New thinking at the IMF with Gita Gopinath as chief economist

Having followed Gita Gopinath’s work closely for several years, I am delighted the International Monetary Fund appointed her to head its influential research department as chief economist.

Gopinath, a professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard University and co-director of the International Finance and Macroeconomics program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, brings expertise, insights and cognitive diversity to the IMF. Her appointment comes at an important time, as the fund seeks to evolve its thinking and practices to better reflect realities on the ground, particularly the two-way causal relationship between macroeconomic and financial issues.

Trade, productivity, debt, capital flows and the functioning of exchange-rate systems are among the top puzzles and challenges facing the global economy as awhole. If the IMF were to survey its 189 member countries, these questions would also be among the top issues that national policy makers confront in formulating strategies for their countries.

These concerns reflect ‘the global factor’: a set of external influences that countries cannot manage or control, but that play an important role in determining key domestic variables. This has generated economic and financial volatility that has complicated internal policy management, fuelled political polarisation, and exacerbated social divisions.

These topics have also featured prominently in Gopinath’s research and publications, which have tended to challenge conventional wisdom and push the collective thinking forward in a beneficial way. Her work has been recognised with many impressive appointments and accolades, including co-editor of the American Economic

Review, being named four years ago among the top 25 economists under the age of 45, and serving on several advisory councils.

For all these reasons, I have little doubt that Gopinath has the potential to bring dynamic new thinking to the Fund. Also, she joins a group of IMF directors that will benefit from greater diversity. She is the first woman appointed to head the research department, which produces the fund’s regular flagship publication, the World Economic Outlook, and is one of the most read documents released by multilateral institutions, not only because of its analyses of the developments and prospects for the global economy but also for the special topics that are addressed in depth.

Gopinath’s appointment enhances the possibility that the fund can have amore effective and influential role to the benefit of both the global economy and individual countries.

Gopinath’s appointment enhances the possibility that the fund can have a more effective and influential role.