Sherry Cooper

Sherry S. Cooper is a Canadian-American economist. She is currently Chief Economist of BMO Capital Markets, with responsibilities for economic forecasting and risk assessment. She comments regularly in the press on financial issues.

Education and career

Cooper was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She earned a B.A from Goucher College in 1972 and an M.A. and Ph.D from the University of Pittsburgh in 1976 and 1978, respectively. From 1977 to 1982 she worked as an economist for the Federal Reserve Board.

In 1983, accompanied by her (now divorced) husband and son, Stefan Atkinson (b. 1980), Cooper moved to Toronto to accept a position with Burns Fry Limited; subsequently becoming a dual citizen of Canada and the United States. She is now married to Toronto businessman Peter J. Cooper. [cite news|url=http://www.sherrycooper.com/article.php3?article=sctorontolife|title=A Profile of Dr. Sherry Cooper|publisher=Toronto Life|last=Hannon|first=Gerald|date=October 2003|accessdate=2007-05-02]

Press commentary

Cooper is best known for her constant prediction that the devaluation of the Canadian dollar is an inexorable long-term trend, and that a Canada-U.S. currency union (which she describes as "dollarization") should be attempted immediately because the conversion rate would only be worse in future. [cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2001/11/09/dollar091101.html|title=Canadian dollar slips to new lows|publisher=CBC News|date=9 November 2001|accessdate=2007-04-19]

After the Canadian dollar achieved parity with the U.S. dollar on September 20, 2007, Cooper conceded that "dollarization in the real world is political... Canadians do not want to lose an independent Bank of Canada, and the U.S. probably wouldn’t want to incorporate Canadian considerations in their deliberations," but argued that a united currency would lead to a much simpler and more convenient world for North Americans. [cite web|title=Buck for a Buck|date=September 20, 2007|url=http://www.sherrycooper.com/article.php3?article=bl20070920]

By July 2008, her mindset had changed on the matter and she stated in a note to institutional investors that, "The world may realize that it is no longer reasonable for the (US) dollar to be the anchor currency." [cite web|title=The Globe and Mail|date=July 23, 2008|url=http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080723.wrcurrency0723/BNStory/Business/home]

Publications

*"Ride The Wave - Taking Control in the Acceleration Age", Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2002.
*"The Cooper Files", Key Porter Publishing, 1999.
*"Introduction to International Trade and Finance", with Norman C. Miller, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1974.

References

External links

* [http://www.sherrycooper.com/ Official website of Sherry Cooper]