Veronica Guerrieri, Economics at the Service of Policy

HAILED AS THE BEST ITALIAN ECONOMIST UNDER 40, VERONICA TEACHES AT BOOTH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS IN CHICAGO

When fifteeen years ago Veronica Guerrieri developed her research path under the influence of her Bocconi mentors Francesco Giavazzi and Laura Bottazzi she could not imagine that one day she would be given the Carlo Alberto Medal for the best Italian economist under 40 and the Bernácer Prize that is awarded annually to European economists under the age of 40 who have made outstanding contributions in the fields of macroeconomics. One of her most recent papers has been mentioned by the International Monetary Fund.

“Credit Crises, Precautionary Savings, and the Liquidity Trap”, co-authored with Guido Lorenzoni, is going to be published by the Quarterly Journal of Ecomomics. It studies the macroeconomics effects of the credit crunch in the U.S. “The credit crunch has depressed households spending, thus contributing to the recession and the reduction in interest rates that led to the liquidity trap. The paper is part of a line of research that has raised awareness on the need to focus on households wealth. It has fueled the debate that led to unconventional monetary policies such as Quantitative Easing”. After a degree at the Bocconi University and a PhD in Economics at the MIT, Guerrieri now teaches MBA and PhD students at the Chicago Booth School of Business. She is convinced that the goal of economic research is to feed the public debate with ideas and to give clues to policy-makers.

“The great motivator is knowing that policy choices have a huge impact on citizens’ welfare, on a country’s affluence, on reducing inequality. The ever-going changes in society are a challenge for economists, they push research in ever new directions. Academic research and economics debate must keep on dialoguing. In the US there is a fruitful exchange between these two worlds. It would be useful to improve it in Italy”.
 

by Claudio Todesco