Gavin Oldham, Chair and CEO of Share PLC, has made a donation to fund a new junior research fellow in economics, starting October 2022. Seda Basihos, the inaugural Research Fellow in Economics of Inequality at King's College, has a B.Sc. and MA in Economics from Hacettepe University in Turkey, and is studying as a Ph.D. Candidate at HEC Lausanne in Switzerland.
Her main interests are Political Economy of Capitalist Systems, Long-run Economic Growth, and Technological Transitions. She has published papers on (Market) Power is (Political) Power: The Pressure of Declining Competition on Democracy, and Blue Screen of Death? Obsolescence and Structural Change in the Computer Age.
Two Faculty alumni who studied economics at Cambridge have risen to senior positions within the Chilean government; the new minister of finance, Mario Marcel and the secretary of the treasury, Claudia Sanhueza. Two other members of the new cabinet are Claudia Sanhueza, the undersecretary of international relations José Miguel Ahumada and the undersecretary of tourism, Verónica Kunze, who also studied in other faculties at Cambridge University.
Chilean media has commented on the number of Cambridge graduates in government, and Professor Tiago Cavalcanti (Trinity College) is quoted in an article by the Chile newspaper Diario Financiero about ‘the Cambridge difference’ in teaching economics. He explains what matters is an examination of economic problems and their issues, plus additional training in political philosophy.
The Faculty's Assistant Professor of Economics Alexander Rodnyansky (Christ's College) is an economic adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.
He has been interviewed by many UK media outlets from Kyiv, including the BBC with his analysis on the impact for Ukraine's economy, and for the region overall. Dr Rodnyansky, who is in Kyiv at the moment, spoke to BBC News about how the conflict is having a catastrophic impact on the economy.
https://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/news-item?item=rodnyansky-ukraine-economy-bbc-gb-news-mar-2022
Junior Research Fellow in Economics, Dr Ines Lee (Homerton College), has won the Bracken Bower Prize 2021 with her book proposal ‘Failing the Class’.
Supported by the Financial Times and McKinsey, the prize is awarded to the best business book proposal by an author under 35, “that provides a compelling and enjoyable insight into future trends in business, economics, finance or management.”
The book will explore a perceived transition in the purpose of education from an inherent benefit in itself, to a tool for employment, and the impact of this shift on the nature of learning and social cohesion.
https://www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/homersphere/news/dr-ines-lee-wins-bracken-bower-prize