Simon Johnson
Simon Johnson is a recognized expert on financial and economic crises. With more than 20 years of experience in policy roles and with the private sector, he has worked on crisis prevention, amelioration, and recovery in both relatively rich and relatively poor countries around the world. His work focuses on how policymakers can limit the impact of negative shocks and manage the risks faced by their countries. Johnson also works with non-profits and think tanks around the world.
Simon Johnson Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship
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Chief Economist and Head of Research Department
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Assistant Director of Research Department
Academic History
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PhD in Economics
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MA in Economics with Distinction
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BA in Economics and Politics, First Class Honours
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- At the International Monetary Fund, Professor Johnson led the global economic outlook team, helped formulate innovative responses to worldwide financial turmoil, and was among the earliest to propose new forms of engagement for sovereign wealth funds.
- He was the first IMF Chief Economist to have a blog.
- His assessment of the need for continuing strong market regulation is published as part of the final report from the US Securities and Exchange Commissions Advisory Committee on market Information.
- He co-founded and currently leads the popular Global Entrepreneurship Lab course. MBA students in GLAB have worked on more than 500 projects with start-up companies around the world.
CURRENT APPOINTMENTS
- Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management
- Co-Founder of The Baseline Scenario
- Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Regular Contributor to Economix, Project Syndicate, and Bloomberg
- Contributing Business Editor at the Huffington Post
- Member of the FDIC’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee
- Member of the Private Sector Systemic Risk Council
- Member of the US Treasury's Office of Financial Research, Financial Research Advisory Committee
- Member of the Congressional Budget Office's Panel of Economic Advisers
- Co-Director of the NBER Africa Project
- Research Associate at NBER
PUBLICATIONS
- Johnson has published more than 300 high-impact pieces in the New York Times, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The New Republic, BusinessWeek, The Huffington Post, and The Financial Times.
- His academic research on economic development, corporate finance, and political economy is widely cited.
- He has a monthly article with Project Syndicate that runs in publications around the world.
- His economic blog, The Baseline Scenario, was described by Paul Krugman as “a must-read” and by Bill Moyers as “one of the most informative news sites in the blogosphere.”
- His recent papers have appeared or are forthcoming in The American Economic Review, The Journal of Political Economy, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, The Journal of Financial Economics, and The Journal of Finance.
- He is on the editorial board of The Journal of Financial Economics, The Review of Economics and Statistics, The Journal of Comparative Economics, and Cliometrica.