Council of Economic Advisers

4 Nov 2011 12:15 PM

First Minister Alex Salmond has appointed Crawford Beveridge as the new chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) - which contains two Nobel Laureates.

Established in 2007, the Council of Economic Advisers has provided expert economic advice to Ministers on positioning Scotland amongst the world's most competitive economies.

Mr Beveridge CBE will follow on from Sir George Mathewson. The Council is joined by Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz, the Scottish Government's Chief Scientific Adviser Professor Anne Glover and Professor Louise Richardson.

Nobel Laureate Sir James Mirrlees, Jim McColl, Professor Andrew Hughes Hallett and Professor Frances Ruane will remain on the group.

These appointments follow the publication of the Scottish Government's Economic Strategy in September. The updated strategy sets the direction for the whole of the public sector - Scottish Government, local government, enterprise networks, Visit Scotland and other key agencies - to work collaboratively with the private, academic and third sectors to accelerate economic growth throughout the country.

First Minister Alex Salmond said:

"The CEA plays a crucial role in advising the Scottish Government as it works to address the challenges and opportunities of the global economic downturn and to accelerate sustainable economic growth.

"Over the past four years the CEA has brought together some of the best minds to focus on increasing Scotland's competitiveness and economic success. In welcoming Crawford Beveridge as the new chair, I would like to thank Sir George Mathewson for his role as chair over the past four years.

"I would also like to welcome new members, Professor Stiglitz, Prof Glover and Prof Richardson, to the CEA. The three new members are all at the forefront of their academic fields and I am confident that the group, and Scotland's economy, will benefit from their knowledge and experience.

"The CEA will play an important role as we take forward our ambitious programme for Government and create a more successful Scotland."

New CEA Chair Crawford Beveridge CBE said:

"I am delighted to continue in the reconvened Council of Economic Advisers and to be invited to Chair such a distinguished group of academics, economists and entrepreneurs.

"Each member will bring their own unique mix of talent and experience to the forum and I am confident that Scotland will benefit greatly from their membership.

"I look forward to working with my fellow Council members to help advise the First Minister on the three priorities he has identified: Jobs and Recovery; Internationalisation and Economic Levers".

Professor Joseph Stiglitz - Nobel Prize winning economist Prof Stiglitz was a member of the US Council of Economic Advisers from 1993-95, during the Clinton administration, and served as CEA chairman from 1995-97. He then became Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank from 1997-2000. In 2009 he was appointed by the President of the United Nations General Assembly as chair of the Commission of Experts on Reform of the International Financial and Monetary System, which also released its report in September 2009.

Professor Louise Richardson - Political scientist Prof Richardson is Principal and Vice-Chancellor at St Andrews. Richardson served as Assistant and then Associate Professor in the Harvard Government Department, teaching courses on international relations. Professor Richardson currently serves on the advisory board for a number of institutions in the UK, Ireland, and the US, all furthering our understanding of the humanities, political violence, and human rights.

Professor Anne Glover - For the past five years Prof Glover has worked to further enhance Scotland's reputation as a science nation in her role as Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland. Professor Glover holds a Personal Chair of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Aberdeen, and has honorary positions at the Rowett and Macaulay Institutes. She is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a member of the Natural Environment Research Council, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

Crawford Beveridge - Former Executive Vice President and Chairman of Sun Microsystems in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. From 1991 to 2000, Crawford Beveridge served as Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise. He brings a wealth of international business experience.

Professor Andrew Hughes Hallett - Professor of Economics and Public Policy at George Mason University in the US and visiting Professor of Economics at the University of St Andrews. He specialises in international economic policy and has acted as a consultant for the World Bank, the IMF, the Federal Reserve Board, the UN, the OECD, the European Commission and central banks around the world.

Professor Sir James Mirrlees - Professor Emeritus at Cambridge University and distinguished professor-at-large at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Sir James was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on economic models and equations about situations where information is asymmetrical or incomplete.

Jim McColl - Chairman and Chief Executive of Clyde Blowers - a company transformed under his leadership into a portfolio of global engineering companies. He also serves as Chairman of the Welfare to Work Forum which has seen 15,000 Scots enter employment

Professor Frances Ruane - Director of Ireland's Economic and Social Research Institute and Honorary Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin where she was an academic for over 25 years. She is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and has served on a range of national policy boards and commissions in Ireland over the past two decades. She is widely published in the area of international economic and industrial development.

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