Prof. dr. Peter Heller Visiting professor

Peter S. Heller, Ph.D.
Economist, Fiscal Expert

Peter S. Heller is a recognized expert on fiscal policy and public finance. The former Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he has advised both industrial and developing countries on broad macroeconomic policy strategies and technical policy reforms for over 30 years. In the first half of 2007, he will be the AGIP Professor of International Economics at SAIS-University of Bologna.

Peter's pioneering book, Who Will Pay? Coping with Aging Societies, Climate Change and Other Long-Term Fiscal Challenges (2003), put the integration of the multiple long-term policy challenges that will arise in the 21st century onto the agenda of government fiscal policy makers. He has been invited to talk about these issues at high-level fora throughout Europe and the United States and is a frequent participant at the World Economic Forum at Davos.

Peter has also published widely on issues of aging population, health care, and social security, particularly as relates to industrial countries and Asia.

As a development economist, Peter has written many articles on fiscal policy, taxation, and government expenditures and has led numerous technical assistance missions to developing and transition countries. He was one of the first to emphasize the problem of the underfunding of recurrent expenditure programs. He has also highlighted the challenges that a scaling-up of aid flows will pose for low-income countries.

Peter is also recognized as an expert on the interface between health policy and macroeconomics, and has explored the relevance of "fiscal space" to health and the Millennium Development Goals. He was an active participant in WHO's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, the UN Millennium Project, and UNAIDS' Steering Committee on Universal Access.

Peter has lectured widely at universities, think tanks, and international conferences.

Peter received a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University in 1971 and a B.A. from Trinity College, Hartford, CT.
 

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