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. from Harvard University in 1986. From 2003 - 2006, Alesina served as Chairman of the Department of Economics at Harvard. He is currently the Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy at Harvard. He has visited several institutions including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Tel Aviv University, University of Stockholm, The World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 2006, Alesina participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project.

Professional associations

Alesina is a member of the following professional organizations:
*The National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts
*The Centre for Economic Policy Research in London, England
*The Econometric Society in Cleveland, Ohio
*The American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Publications

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 by Oxford University Press. He has been a co-editor of the Quarterly 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 journal Voxeu.org and of Lavoce.info.

Topics of professional interest

Alesina's work has covered a variety of topics, including:
*Political business cycles
*The political economy of fiscal policy and budget deficits
*The process of European integration
*Stabilization policies in high inflation countries
*The determination of the size of countries
*Currency unions
*The political economic determinants of redistributive policies
*Differences in the welfare state in the US and Europe
*Differences in the economic system in the US and Europe
*The effect of alternative electoral systems on economic policies
*The determination of the choice of different electoral systems

External 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!]