JaeBin Ahn is a Senior Economist in the Western Hemisphere Department of the IMF, covering the U.S. economy. Previously, he was in the IMF's Research Department, Asia and Pacific Department, and an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University . His area of research includes international trade and finance, with particular interest in deriving macroeconomic implications from micro-level theory and evidence. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University, and M.A. in Economics and B.S. in Material Science from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.