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 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, 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.

Current research focuses on two very different topics: the interplay between religion and political economy and the impact of rare disasters on asset markets and macroeconomic activity.

Long term growth, standard of living and government policies

Can Government Influence Economic Growth? | Panel: Avi Weiss, Robert Barro, Russ Roberts 

Rare Economic Disasters: What Role Does Government Play?

Russ Roberts is the John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Roberts hosts the award-winning weekly podcast EconTalk–hour-long conversations with authors, economists and others. Past guests include Milton Friedman, Thomas Piketty, Joseph Stiglitz, Nassim Taleb, Michael Lewis, and Christopher Hitchens.

His latest book is How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Happiness and Human Nature (Portfolio, 2014). Roberts explores the ideas in Smith’s forgotten masterpiece, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and applies them to modern life. Roberts is also the author of three novels that teach economic ideas and principles: The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity (Princeton University Press, 2008), The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance (MIT Press, 2002), and The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism (Prentice Hall, 3rd edition, 2006). The Choice was named one of the top ten books of 1994 by Business Week and one of the best books of 1994 by the Financial Times.

Roberts is the co-creator (with filmmaker John Papola) of the Keynes-Hayek rap videos (Fear the Boom and Bust and The Fight of the Century) that have been viewed over 8 million times on YouTube.

A three-time teacher of the year, Roberts has taught at George Mason University, Washington University in St. Louis (where he was the founding director of what is now the Center for Experiential Learning), the University of Rochester, Stanford University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. His PhD in economics is from the University of Chicago.

Leaving things alone: The Secret Lessons of the Economic Way of Thinking

The Winners and Losers When Nations Trade

Yehonatan Givati is an associate professor at Hebrew University Law School. He is also affiliated with the Center for Empirical Studies of Decision Making and the Law.

His scholarly interest lies in the area of economic analysis of law. His work is both theoretical and empirical. He applies the tools of law and economics to three areas of law: tax law, law enforcement, and administrative law.

He received a PhD from the Economics Department at Harvard University in 2013, and an SJD from Harvard Law School in 2011.

Givati served as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School and at Columbia Law School. Before starting to teach he was a Post Graduate Research Fellow in Law and Economics at New York University School of Law.

Peter Kaznacheev is managing partner at Khaznah Strategies Ltd. He brings with him over 16 years of experience in emerging markets, the United Kingdom and the United States. His professional career includes business development in the oil & gas industry with British Petroleum, senior government advisory work, and economic research and analysis of emerging markets at the World Bank and the Group of Eight (G8).

Prior to Khaznah Strategies, Peter worked as a Business Development Advisor with British Petroleum in its UK headquarters where he focused on new business origination for the company. That included acquisition opportunities and greenfield projects as well as strategic alliances with national oil companies. While at BP, Peter worked on projects with overall combined oil and gas reserves of 15 bn barrels of oil equivalent and an estimated value of over USD 80 bn.

Between 2002 and 2005 Peter worked in the Russian Presidential Administration as a Senior Advisor to the Chief Economic Aid to the President dealing with economic, energy and environmental issues. In the same job, he served as Assistant Representative at the Group of Eight (G8) and was responsible for coordinating the process of preparation for G8 summits. Prior to that he worked on political risk insurance of foreign investments in emerging markets at the World Bank in Washington; and before that – as Advisor to the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Property of the Russian Parliament.

Over the last ten years, Peter has been lecturing at various universities, including RANEPA, where he also chairs the Centre for Resource Economics. He received a Master’s degree in international economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC; and a BA and a PhD in political science and philosophy from Moscow State University. Peter speaks Russian, English, German and some Arabic and Italian.

Curse or Blessing? How Institutions Determine Success in Resource-rich Countries 

How to Turn Oil and Gas Production into an Engine of Growth 

Prof. Weiss is CEO of the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel. He holds a doctoral degree from the University of Chicago. He has presided as a member of the senior faculty of Bar-Ilan University since 1988 and served as Chair of the Economics Department between 2005 and 2008. His area of expertise is Applied Economics and his research focuses on industrial organization, antitrust, labor economics, law and economics, and behavioral and experimental economics. Weiss is the editor of The Economic Quarterly – the journal of the Israel Economic Association – and is an associate editor of Economic Inquiry.

In the public domain, Prof. Weiss served as Chief Economist and Deputy Director of the Israel Antitrust Authority between 2003-2005; was a member of the Anti-Dumping Commission of the Ministry of Industry and Trade between 1999-2003; served as a member of the Subcommittee on the Cost of Living and Competition of the Trajtenberg Commission on Social and Economic Change; and acted as a consulting member of the Bachar Intra-Agency Committee for Reform of the Financial Sector. Today he is a member of the Competition Task Force of Israel’s Grand Strategy Forum. Prof. Weiss has been a research fellow at IZA (a labor market research center) in Germany since 2000.

Throughout his academic career, Weiss has published more than forty articles in refereed journals and professional books.

Hagit Shinover-Katz is founder and shareholder of the Cofix coffee chain, which owns 120 caffe franchises across Israel, which sells all their products for a fixed price. She is also the owner and founder at Super-Cofix, a chain which operates 30 supermarkets across Israel. She is also the Purchasing Vice Chairman for both companies.

Shinover-Katz is also the owner of “Alef to Taf”, a company which organizes group purchases of home items for private people and companies.

Previously, Shinover-Katz owned a cosmetics store, and dealt with international trade within a home products importing business.

Binyamin (Bini) Zomer has been appointed to Noble Energy Country Manager in Israel on September 2014. Prior to that, he served as Noble Energy’s Director of Corporate Affairs in Israel since January 2010. In that capacity, Bini was responsible for Noble’s government relations, media relations and corporate social responsibility projects. His responsibilities also include a number of commercial endeavors. In 2014, Bini added the role of Joint Venture Manager to his responsibilities. As JV Manager, Bini is responsible managing the business relationship between the various partnerships that Noble operates off-shore Israel.

Prior to joining Noble, Bini served as Deputy Director for Policy and Government Affairs at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) where he focused on energy and homeland security issues. Before joining AIPAC, Bini was Director of Federal Government Relations at Accenture LLP and before that served as Counsel to Don Nickles, US Senator from Oklahoma, after practicing law in Chicago. Bini has a Law degree from the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and a B.A. in Government from the University of Texas.