Dr. Alan Ahearne lectures in economics and is Vice Dean for Research at the Cairnes Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He also holds an appointment as a nonresident Research Fellow at Bruegel, the influential Brussels-based economics think tank, and is a Research Associate at the Institute for International Integration Studies at Trinity College Dublin. He is an invited member of both the Financial Times Economists' Forum -- described as "50 of the world’s most influential economists" -- and of the EMU Monitor group of monetary experts, a new forum aimed at providing informed debate on macroeconomics in the euro area. He is Associate Editor of The Economic and Social Review and a member of The Economic and Social Research Institute's Quarterly Economic Commentary (Articles) Editorial Board.
Dr. Ahearne joined NUI Galway in 2005. Prior to coming to Galway, he was a Senior Economist in the International Finance Division of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, DC. During his seven years at the Federal Reserve Board, his duties included preparing notes for and presenting briefings to Chairman Alan Greenspan and other Board members. He was also the principal economist at the Board covering the Japanese and Chinese economies. Dr. Ahearne has taught economics at Carnegie Mellon University, University College Dublin, Dublin City University, and the University of Limerick. He began his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand and also worked for Bank of Ireland Group Treasury.
Dr. Ahearne's areas of expertise are macroeconomics and international finance. His research includes studies on property markets in Ireland and other industrial countries; global current account imbalances and exchange rates; services sector growth; and the economic performance of the euro area. In addition to being published in top academic journals, his research has featured in The Economist, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Irish Times, and Sunday Business Post. He also writes a weekly column on property for the Sunday Independent. In addtion, he is a regular contributor on economic issues on the BBC, CNBC, RTE, Newstalk, and Today FM.
Dr. Ahearne received a B.B.S. from the University of Limerick in 1989, an M.Econ.Sc. from University College Dublin in 1991 and an M.Sc. (1995) and a Ph.D. (1998), both in economics, from Carnegie Mellon University. At Carnegie Mellon, he received several awards and honours, including the William Larimer Mellon Doctoral Fellowship (1993-1996) and the Excellence in Teaching Award (1997). His Ph.D. dissertation advisor at Carnegie Mellon was Finn Kydland, winner of the Nobel Prize in economics in 2004.
