The Everywhere Economist by Minouche Shafik

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Freshly minted Oxford economics PhD led to work on Eastern Europe at the World Bank after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.
Led the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID) during the mid-2000s Make Poverty History campaign; became permanent secretary in 2008.
At the International Monetary Fund during the 2009–10 euro area debt crisis, oversaw Fund work on several countries at the epicenter of the upheaval.
Ran IMF programs in the Middle East during the Arab Spring pro-democracy protests of the early 2010s as a deputy managing director.
Deputy governor of the Bank of England during the turmoil of Britain’s Brexit vote, overseeing a $500 billion balance sheet.
President of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) for six years; first female president of Columbia University at age 60.
Became the World Bank’s youngest-ever vice president at the age of 36.
Honors and positions: named a baroness in the House of Lords, named a dame for services to the world economy, and elected a fellow of the British Academy.

Author of the 2021 book What We Owe Each Other, calling for a new social contract in response to demographic and technological change.
Key proposals from the book:
- Constructing a floor below which income cannot fall combined with incentives to work.
- Portable pensions linked to life expectancy.
- Lifelong education and retraining.
- Intervention in early childhood to equalize opportunity.
- A stronger “architecture of security and opportunity” by sharing risks and investing in people.
In response to COVID and later reflections, would add a chapter on the international social contract and how to strengthen it.

Emphasizes reversal of declining independence in parliaments, courts, central banks, civil society, and a free press as crucial for the Middle East’s long-term prospects.
Stresses the importance of strong institutions: “The institutions that make sure whatever kind of leadership you have works in the public interest.”
Sees the laws of economics as applying in the Middle East and North Africa as elsewhere; expresses confidence in the region’s young people, history, and potential.
Warns that the international system faces acute strains: aid budget cuts, Russia’s war in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions, and rising interest rates pressuring heavily indebted developing economies.
Asserts that “the external context for international organizations has not been this tough since the Cold War.”
Argues for carving out space for international cooperation on global public goods like climate, pandemic preparedness, and financial stability, especially when bilateral channels falter.

Oversaw legislation that enshrined into law a commitment to spend at least 0.7 percent of gross national income on official development assistance.
That commitment “worked out to an annual budget of about $20 billion.”
Views DFID’s clarity of purpose—to reduce world poverty—as a key to its success; regrets its later merger into the Foreign Office and dilution of the aid commitment.

Described by colleagues as combining “tough-mindedness, high intellect, courage, and an aptitude for swaying policymakers,” with notable empathy and political intelligence.
Christine Lagarde: attentive and inclusive leadership; supports others, especially women, and “does not suffer fools gladly but will give everyone a chance.”
Praised for the ability to deliver tough messages in an inoffensive way and to separate message from person.

As a university leader, worries that cancel culture can stifle free-thinking debate; advocates free speech within the law.
Argues universities must teach people to have difficult conversations to build consensus and move forward as a community.
Proud that at LSE “no one was barred from speaking because of views that some might consider offensive.”

Born in Egypt; family fled President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt for the United States in 1966 when she was four years old, settling first in Savannah, Georgia.
Childhood amid US turmoil—Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, Watergate—and frequent school bussing influenced interests in politics, policy, international relations, and fairness.
Education: undergraduate degree in economics and politics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; master’s in economics from the LSE; doctorate in economics from Oxford.
Family life: married scientist Raffael Jovine in 2002, had twins, and became stepmother to his three children in the same year.
Maintains frequent visits to Egypt; frustrated by the region’s underperformance due to bad politics, misguided economic policies, internal conflicts, and outside interventions.

F&D Magazine — Minouche Shafik: The Everywhere Economist, Nicholas Owen, September 2023

People in Economics: The Everywhere Economist
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- People in Economics: The Everywhere Economist (PDF)