" My interest in Economics and research is fueled by my home country, Lebanon; a country that is marred by high levels of debt, poverty, inequality and unemployment. "
Zeina Hasna pursued undergraduate degrees in Economics and Applied Mathematics at the American University of Beirut. Afterwards, she did an MPhil in Economic Research at University of Cambridge working with Dr. Tiago Cavalcanti on issues related to macroeconomic development.
Why economics?
" Coming from a developing country has shown me firsthand the implications of inadequate policymaking. This has motivated me to pursue a career in economics in order to provide research-led evidence to influence policymaking and help promote inclusive growth.
Upon completing my masters degree, I went back to Lebanon and worked with the World Bank where I was involved in projects covering Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. In addition to contributing to the Bank’s flagship economic monitor series for these countries, I took part of the macroeconomic teams handling multi-billion development policy deals with Jordan and Iraq, and joined missions to both of these countries. I was also a research associate at the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies where I was mainly involved in the center’s project on managing the oil and gas sector in Lebanon. As part of that project, I wrote a chapter of the center’s book on The Future of Petroleum in Lebanon: Energy, Politics and Economic Growth. Having worked for two years, I realized the only way to inform policy robustly is by fully immersing into mathematical, computational and economic skills, and harnessing the combination of rigorous analysis and data-driven models. As such, I came back to Cambridge to continue working with Dr. Cavalcanti on more macro development-related issues. My research focus now is more on climate change - a threat to all countries in the world - and its impacts on growth and inequality across and within countries. "