The Rising Star of Economics: The Life of Gita Gopinath
Gita Gopinath is a global economics sensation. The Kerala-born economist became the first woman to hold the prestigious position of Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2019. She is renowned for her expertise in international macroeconomics, trade, and finance and her ability to provide insightful perspectives on the economic challenges confronting contemporary global financial systems.
Born on December 8, 1971, in Mysore, Karnataka, India, Gita Gopinath grew up in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Her father, T.V. Gopinath, was an economist at the Indian Institute of Management, and her mother, V.T. Thulasi, was a literature professor. With their encouragement, Gopinath developed an early interest in economics, reading the newspaper regularly and engaging in conversations about world affairs.
Gopinath received her undergraduate degree in economics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women in New Delhi, India. She went on to earn her master’s degree in economics from Delhi School of Economics in 1992. She then pursued her Ph.D. in economics at Princeton University, New Jersey. Her doctoral thesis, written under the supervision of Professor Kenneth Rogoff, addressed several questions about exchange rate movements and the economics of exchange rate regimes.
After graduation, Gopinath joined the faculty at the University of Chicago as an assistant professor of economics in 2001. She rapidly gained recognition for her work in international finance, trade, and macroeconomics. The Economist and Forbes lauded her as one of the most promising business school professors under the age of 40.
Policymakers also noticed Gopinath’s work. In 2011, she served as a consultant for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where she worked on research projects and provided policy advice to policymakers in various countries. She also served on the Economic Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and was a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 2004.
Gopinath’s academic achievements led Bloomberg Businessweek to name her one of the 50 most influential thinkers in 2011. In 2014, she was elected as a fellow of the Econometric Society, which acknowledges leading mathematical economists globally.
In 2018, Gopinath joined the Harvard University faculty. She became the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics and also ran the Harvard International Finance Seminar. The same year, she also became the Economic Adviser to the Chief Minister of Kerala, India.
Gopinath’s groundbreaking research ranges from topics like currency movements, global trade imbalances and financial crises. Her work highlights how financial integration impacts the lives of millions of individuals worldwide. Her research advocates that economic policies implemented at the local level should consider the effect of globalization on local communities.
Her work has been extensively cited, and she has written and edited multiple books on international economics, including A Cosmopolitan Perspective on IMF Conditionality (2011), a critique of the IMF’s conditionality policies.
Gopinath served as an editor at the leading economics journal, the American Economic Review, from 2015 to 2019. Her named has been featured in numerous publications, including Fortune, The Times of India, and The New York Times. She has received accolades for her work from her peers worldwide, including the Bernacer prize by the Valencian Community University in Spain in 2014.
In 2019, Gopinath was appointed as the first female Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In her role as the Chief Economist, Gopinath leads the IMF’s research and analysis on global macroeconomic issues – including inflation, growth forecasts, and economic development – and coordinates with regional economic experts to advise policymakers around the world.
Gopinath’s appointment at the IMF makes her one of the key faces in global economics, with the potential to shape global economic policy. She has been vocal about the need for policymakers to be alert to the dangers of climate change and its economic impact on developing countries, given its potential to worsen poverty and inequality gaps.
Gopinath’s life and career demonstrate that hard work and perseverance in safe horizons such as academia or economic policy have the capacity to impact the lives of millions positively. Her stellar academic achievements, groundbreaking research, and her accomplishments in the realm of economic policy have rightly earned her the reputation of a “rising star of economics.” Her life and work will continue to inspire and shape the world of economics in the years to come.