World Bank names financial crisis expert Reinhart as chief economist

• World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement that Reinhart's experience and insights would prove invaluable as the coronavirus pandemic heaps economic pain on developing countries.
• Reinhart, now a professor at Harvard University, published a book entitled "This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly,"
• "This Time Truly Is Different" - a reference to the origins of the crisis - Reinhart said: "Clearly, this is a 'whatever-it-takes' moment for large-scale, outside-the-box fiscal and monetary policies."

WASHINGTON: The World Bank on Wednesday named former Bear Stearns executive Carmen Reinhart as its vice president and chief economist, tapping an expert on financial crises who also serves on the advisory board of the New York Federal Reserve.

World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement that Reinhart's experience and insights would prove invaluable as the coronavirus pandemic heaps economic pain on developing countries. She starts at the bank on June 15.

Reinhart, now a professor at Harvard University, published a book entitled "This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly," together with economist Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University in 2009.

The book called for stricter regulations and an early-warning system to sound the alarm about financial bubbles, arguing that central bankers, policy makers and investors tended to ignore the telltale signs of a bubble.

In an article she wrote on the pandemic in March entitled "This Time Truly Is Different" - a reference to the origins of the crisis - Reinhart said: "Clearly, this is a 'whatever-it-takes' moment for large-scale, outside-the-box fiscal and monetary policies."

Reinhart has a Ph.D. from Columbia University and teaches international economics at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has also worked at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the International Monetary Fund and the University of Maryland and the former Bear Stearns investment bank.

"She's obviously well suited to the moment," said Scott Morris, a former US Treasury official who is now a senior fellow with the Centre for Global Development. "The Bank could be entering uncharted territory in the months ahead, so it's good to have her intellectual firepower onboard."

The Bank said Reinhart's areas of expertise included international capital flows, and sovereign debt crises, and she serves as a member of a new IMF external advisory group working on policy challenges, including the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact.

She replaces Pinelopi Goldberg, who left on March 1 after only 15 months on the job.