- Alberto Alesina
Alberto Francesco Alesina is an Italian professor who is a leader in the field of
political economics and has published extensively in major academic journals in economics.Background
Born in
Broni ,Italy in 1957, Alesina obtained his Bachelor Degree in Economics from Bocconi University (DES) in 1981 and Ph.D. fromHarvard University in 1986. From 2003 - 2006, Alesina served as Chairman of the Department of Economics at Harvard. He is currently theNathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy at Harvard. He has visited several institutions includingMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),Tel Aviv University ,University of Stockholm ,The World Bank , and theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF). In 2006, Alesina participated in theStock Exchange of Visions project.Professional associations
Alesina is a member of the following professional organizations:
*TheNational Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts
*TheCentre for Economic Policy Research in London, England
*TheEconometric Society inCleveland, Ohio
*TheAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, MassachusettsPublications
He has published five books and edited many more. His two most recent books are "The Future of Europe: Reform or Decline" published by
MIT Press (2006), and "Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe: A World of Difference", published byOxford University Press . He has been a co-editor of theQuarterly Journal of Economics for eight years and associate editor of many academic journals. He has published columns in many leading newspapers around the world. He is founding contributor of the online economic policy and research journalVoxeu.org and ofLavoce.info .Topics of professional interest
Alesina's work has covered a variety of topics, including:
*Politicalbusiness cycles
*The political economy offiscal policy andbudget deficits
*The process ofEuropean integration
*Stabilization policies in highinflation countries
*The determination of the size of countries
*Currency unions
*The political economic determinants of redistributive policies
*Differences in thewelfare state in the US and Europe
*Differences in theeconomic system in the US and Europe
*The effect of alternativeelectoral systems on economic policies
*The determination of the choice of different electoral systemsExternal links
* [http://www.stockexchangeofvisions.org/speaker.php?id=8 Stock Exchange Of Visions: Visions of Alberto Alesina (Video Interviews)]
* [http://www.voxeu.org Web site of Voxeu.org]
* [http://www.lavoce.info Web site of LaVoce.info]
* [http://thoughtcast.org/casts/the-future-of-europe Alberto Alesina talks about his new book, "The Future of Europe"] with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jenattiyeh Jenny Attiyeh] on the interview program [http://www.thoughtcast.org ThoughtCast!]
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