Sebastian Edwards

Sebastian Edwards is the Henry Ford II Professor of International Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles. From 1993 to 1996 he was Chief Economist for Latin America at the World Bank. He has published 14 books, and over 200 scholarly articles. He is the Co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s “Africa Project”. Professor Edwards has been an Adviser to numerous governments, financial institutions, and multinational companies. He is a frequent commentator on economic matters in CNN and other cable outlets, and his op-ed pieces have been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, El País (Spain), La Vanguardia (Spain), Clarín (Argentina), El Mercurio (Chile), and other newspapers from around the world. His latest book is American Default (Princeton University Press, 2018). Other books include Toxic Aid: Economic Collapse and Recovery in Tanzania (Oxford University Press, 2014), Left Behind: Latin America and the False Promise of Populism (University of Chicago Press, 2011), and Crisis and Reform in Latin America: From Despair to Hope, (Oxford University Press, 1995). Professor Edwards has been President of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA), and is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Kiel Institute of World Economics, Kiel-Germany. He was a member of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Council of Economic Advisors. In 2013 Professor Edwards was awarded the Carlos Díaz-Alejandro Prize in recognition for his research on the Latin American economies. Professor Edwards was educated at the Universidad Católica de Chile. He received an MA in economics in 1978, and a Ph.D. in economics in 1981, both from the University of Chicago.