Areas of Interest:

• Political Economy of the Middle East
• Development and Growth in Africa
• Financial Flows and Trade – domestic and global issues

Education:

• M.Sc. and PhD., Economics, University of California, Berkeley, 1979-1984.
• B.Sc., Economics, University of Montreal, 1979. 

Experience:

• Professor of Practice in Economics, American University of Beirut, Present
• Director of Research, Finance for Development Lab, Paris School of Economics, 2022
• Chair Arab World, Paris Sciences et Lettres, visiting professor at SIPA, Columbia University, 2017
• Chair Arab World, Paris Sciences et Lettres, visiting researcher at the Paris School of Economics, 2015
• Director for Africa and the Middle East, Center for International Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Harvard University, 2011-2014
• Country Director, Ethiopia and Sudan (2002-2007), Ghana, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, World Bank, 2007-2011
• Manager Economic Policy for Poverty Reduction, World Bank Institute, 1996-2002

Latest Publications:

• Preference for Democracy in the Arab world. With Mohamed Al-Ississ. 2016. Politics and Governance 4 (4), 16-26
• The Changing Values of Arab Youth. Chapter 2 of the UNDP Arab Human Development Report, 2016
• Who are the Democrats? Leading Opinions in the Wake of Egypt’s 2011 Popular Uprisings. In Sayre, E. A. and Youssef, T. M. eds., 2016. Young generation awakening: Economics, society, and policy on the eve of the Arab Spring. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Fiscal Policy and Crony Capitalism. With Melani Cammett. In Middle East Economies in Transition. Editor, Ishac Diwan and Ahmad Galal. International Economic Association Series. Palgrave, 2016.
• Regional and Global Integration of Arab Countries. With El Mouhoub Mouhoud. In Middle East Economies in Transition. Editor, Ishac Diwan and Ahmad Galal. International Economic Association Series. Palgrave, 2016.
• Middle East Economies in Transition. Editors, Ishac Diwan and Ahmad Galal. International Economic Association Series under the direction of Joseph Stiglitz. Palgrave, 2016.