Robert J. Barro is Paul
M. Warburg Professor of Economics at Harvard University, a senior fellow of the
Hoover Institution of Stanford University, and a research associate of the
National Bureau of Economic Research. He has a Ph.D. in economics from
Harvard University and a B.S. in physics from Caltech. Barro is co-editor
of Harvard’s Quarterly Journal of Economics and was recently President
of the Western Economic Association and Vice President of the American Economic
Association. He is honorary dean of the China Economics & Management
Academy, Central University of Beijing. He was a viewpoint columnist for Business
Week from 1998 to 2006 and a contributing editor of The Wall Street
Journal from 1991 to 1998. He has written extensively on macroeconomics
and economic growth. Noteworthy research includes empirical determinants
of economic growth, economic effects of public debt and budget deficits, and
the formation of monetary policy. Recent books include Macroeconomics:
A Modern Approach from Thompson/Southwestern, Economic Growth
(2nd edition, written with Xavier Sala-i-Martin), Nothing Is Sacred:
Economic Ideas for the New Millennium, Determinants of Economic Growth,
and Getting It Right: Markets and Choices in a Free Society, all
from MIT Press. Current research focuses on two very different
topics: the interplay between religion and political economy and the
impact of rare disasters on asset markets.