Dr. Johnson has written frequently on monetary and development economics, and on topics in diplomatic history, in the Journal of Economics and Political Economy, the Small Wars Journal, the Journal of Social and Administrative Sciences, and Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, among others. A collection of his articles is published here in open-access format as Uncommon Arguments on Common Topics (June 2022). His Gold, France, and the Great Depression, 1919-1932 (Yale, 1997) received an award from the Association of American Publishers – and has been called the best one-volume account of events that led to the Depression.

Johnson was a senior expert in finance and governance for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) in Afghanistan during 2009 to 2014. He was team leader and senior economist for MPRI, a DoD contractor in Iraq during 2008-2009, on a project to assist post-conflict transition and economic recovery. He later published critical accounts – included here — of US policy in both wars. He was an economist for the US State Department in Iraq prior to that, and an independent contractor/ economist for USAID, the US Treasury, the British DfID, and the Asian Development Bank going back to 1996; venues included Saudi Arabia, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, and Israel-Palestine. He taught financial or international economics at the University of Maryland in Saudi Arabia, the American University in Kyrgyzstan, and Boston University.

Johnson completed a PhD in diplomatic and economic history at Yale University in 1994. He worked on his dissertation with Harry Miskimin, Willem Buiter, and (informally) Robert Mundell. He previously earned a BA in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), and a MBA in corporate finance at UCLA. He is fluent in several languages. During 1981-1987, he was employed at Chase Manhattan Bank where he was promoted to second vice president, and as a vice president at Citibank; he worked in money markets, options, and foreign exchange.

In 2018, Johnson was a Democratic candidate for the Massachusetts State House; but for unfortunate filing errors, he believes the race was winnable. He is an economics advisor at Trade Engine LLC, an IT development firm based in Wyoming. He has been a high school tennis coach, most recently for two seasons at the Chinese Immersion charter school in Hadley, MA.

Johnson’s daughter, Elizabeth Loss Johnson, PhD, recently joined the faculty of Feinberg Medical School in Chicago.

Dr. Heinz Schimmelbusch is the chairman of the management board, chief executive officer, and founder of AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V., listed in Amsterdam, a critical materials company with global operations. He is also founder and non-executive chairman of the board of Puraglobe Inc., a global leader in the recycling of used motor oil with refinery operations in Germany and the US.

Previously Dr. Schimmelbusch was founder, general partner and managing director of Safeguard International Fund, L.P., a vintage 1998 U.S. based private equity firm targeting transatlantic investment opportunities.

From 1981 to 1993, Dr. Schimmelbusch served on the management board of Metallgesellschaft AG, Frankfurt, a global leader in non-ferrous metals, commodity trading and process engineering. Dr. Schimmelbusch has served on the supervisory boards of Teck Corporation (now Teck Resources), Methanex Corporation (as chairman), Canada, Mobil Oil AG, and Allianz Versicherungs AG, Germany.

He also, as chairman, was a member of the boards of Norddeutsche Affinerie AG, Hamburg (today Aurubis AG), Dynamit Nobel AG, Troisdorf, and Buderus AG, Wetzlar. He served as a member of the advisory board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, London. He was also a member of the board of directors of Norilsk Nickel, Moscow.

Beyond his corporate positions, Dr. Schimmelbusch was a Member of the Presidencies of the Federation of German Industries, Cologne, the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, and – as an Austrian citizen – the International Advisory Board of the Austrian Chancellor, Vienna.

Dr. Schimmelbusch received a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Tuebingen. He received Goldene Ehrenzeichen fuer Verdienste fuer die Republik Austria.

In 2014, I moved to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. in economics with a concentration in economic development at Florida State University (FSU). Given the difficult situation in Venezuela, life was giving me a big opportunity, and I took it! At first, it was a challenge to be a student again, but at the end, I did so successfully and enjoyed one of the most remarkable periods of my life. I learned a lot, improved my research, and practiced some old hobbies like playing guitar, rollerblading, and playing table tennis (I was in the FSU Table Tennis team and participated in several national and regional competitions). I also had the immense privilege to closely work with my FSU advisor, James Gwartney.

On August 19 of 2019, I successfully defended my dissertation at FSU, culminating this “second” stage as a student. On the next day I started teaching activities at Ursinus College, PA, USA. I am currently an assistant professor of Statistics in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Ursinus College. After leaving my parents, extended family, and friends in Venezuela, I have been incredibly blessed to have found my wonderful wife, the love of my life, and a wonderful job both at the same place and time.

Chief Economist at INVESCO plc, John Greenwood OBE, is a graduate of Edinburgh University. He did economic research at Tokyo University and was a visiting research fellow at the Bank of Japan (1970-74). From 1974 he was Chief Economist with GT Management plc, based initially in Hong Kong and later in San Francisco. As editor of Asian Monetary Monitor he proposed a currency board scheme for stabilizing the Hong Kong dollar in 1983 that is still in operation today. John was a director of the Hong Kong Futures Exchange Clearing Corporation (1987-91) and council member the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (1992-93). An economic adviser to the Hong Kong Government (1992-93), he has been a member of the Committee on Currency Board Operations of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority since 1998. He is also a member of the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee in England. John is a director of INVESCO Asia Ltd in Hong Kong, INVESCO Asset Management Singapore Ltd, and the Hong Kong Association in London.

In 1980 he translated Yoshio Suzuki’s book, “Money and Banking in Contemporary Japan” from Japanese. In 2007 he completed a book entitled Hong Kong’s Link to the US Dollar: Origins and Evolution which covers the collapse of the currency in 1983 and its subsequent restoration to stability under the plan he devised.

In the past, Prof. Hanke taught economics at the Colorado School of Mines and at the University of California, Berkeley. He served as a Member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers in Maryland in 1976-77, as a Senior Economist on President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers in 1981-82, and as a Senior Advisor to the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress in 1984-88. Prof. Hanke served as a State Counselor to both the Republic of Lithuania in 1994-96 and the Republic of Montenegro in 1999-2003. He was also an Advisor to the Presidents of Bulgaria in 1997-2002, Venezuela in 1995-96, and Indonesia in 1998. He played an important role in establishing new currency regimes in Argentina, Estonia, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ecuador, Lithuania, and Montenegro. Prof. Hanke has also held senior appointments in the governments of many other countries, including Albania, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yugoslavia.

Prof. Hanke has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (2003), the Free University of Tbilisi (2010), Istanbul Kültür University (2012), the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (2013), Varna Free University (2015), the Universität Liechtenstein (2017), and the D.A. Tsenov Academy of Economics (2018) in recognition of his scholarship on exchange-rate regimes. He is a Distinguished Associate of the International Atlantic Economic Society, a Distinguished Professor at the Universitas Pelita Harapan in Jakarta, Indonesia, a Professor Asociado (the highest honor awarded to international experts of acknowledged competence) at the Universidad del Azuay in Cuenca, Ecuador, a Profesor Visitante at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (the UPC’s highest academic honor), and the Gottfried von Haberler Professor at the European Center of Austrian Economics Foundation (ECAEF) in Liechtenstein. In 1998, he was named one of the twenty-five most influential people in the world by World Trade Magazine. In 2020, Prof. Hanke was knighted, and is a “Knight of the Order of the Flag”.

Prof. Hanke’s most recent books are Currency Boards: Volume 1. Theory and Policy (2020), Currency Boards: Volume 2. Studies on Selected European Countries (2020), Currency Boards for Developing Countries: A Handbook (2021), and Public Debt Sustainability: International Perspectives (2022). Prof. Hanke and his wife, Liliane, reside in Baltimore and Paris.”

Prof. Hanke’s most recent books are Zimbabwe: Hyperinflation to Growth (2008) and A Blueprint for a Safe, Sound Georgian Lari (2010), Juntas Monetarias para PaisesenDesarollo (2015), Currency Boards for Developing Countries: A Handbook (2015),Gelişmekte Olan Ülkelerİçin Para Kurullari El Kitabi (2019), and دليلمجالسالنقدفيالبلدانالنامية

Prof. Hanke and his wife, Liliane, reside in Baltimore and Paris.

Takaharu Ishii was appointed as a lecturer in the department of management in April 2016, specialising in developing countries.

I completed my PhD in 2009, undertaking a part-time PhD (2009-2011) and a lecturer in department of management (2011-2016, 2016-) in the study of Developing countries.