Atif Rehman Mian ( ur, ; born 28 June 1975) is a Pakistani-American economist who serves as the John H. Laporte Jr. Class of 1967 Professor of

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

, Public Policy, and Finance at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, and as the Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance at the

Princeton School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...

. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2021, and was elected Fellow of the Econometric Society in 2021. His work focuses on the connections between finance and the macro economy. He is the first person of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

i origin to rank among the top 25 young economists of the world. In 2014, the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

(IMF) identified Atif as one of twenty-five young economists who it expects will shape the world's thinking about the global economy in the future.

Early life and education

Atif grew up and received most of his education in

before moving to the US for higher education in 1993. He is the youngest in his family and has three older sisters. In 1996, he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics with computer science from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, and he completed his doctorate in economics at MIT in 2001. After working as a faculty member at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

(2001–2009) and

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

(2009–2012), he joined the Princeton faculty in 2012.

House of Debt

Atif is the author of the critically acclaimed book ''House of Debt'' (with

Amir Sufi Amir Sufi is the Bruce Lindsay Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He was awarded the 2017 Fischer Black Prize by the American Finance Association, given biennially to a financial economi ...

, University of Chicago Press, 2014). The book argues that debt caused the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

—rather than failing banks, as the Bush and Obama administrations had diagnosed. His book was shortlisted for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'' Business Book of the Year, and it won the Gordon J. Laing Prize of the University of Chicago Press.

EAC appointment

Atif was appointed on 1 September 2018 as a member of an

Economic Advisory Council Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India (PMEAC) is a non-constitutional, non-permanent and independent body constituted to give economic advice to the Government of India, specifically the Prime Minister. The council serves t ...

formed by

Pakistani Prime Minister The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pakist ...

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

to provide assistance on issues of economics and finance. However, since his appointment, the government faced criticism from groups opposed to government representation for religious minorities, because of Atif's

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

faith. He was removed from the Economic Advisory Council on 7 September 2018 and afterwards council members

Asim Ijaz Khwaja Asim Ijaz Khwaja ( ur, ) is a Pakistani-American economist who serves as Sumitomo-FASID Professor of International Finance and Development at Harvard Kennedy School, and director of Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard Universi ...

and Imran Rasul resigned in protest. Atif Mian's quick removal from EAC due to religious discrimination received worldwide condemnation, including an open letter by leading economists including many Nobel laureates. International media outlets such as

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

and

also criticised the move.

Recognition

In 2021 Mian was named a

Fellow of the Econometric Society In the scientific discipline of economics, the Econometric Society is a learned society devoted to the advancement of economics by using mathematical and statistical methods. This article is a list of its (current and in memory) fellows. Fellows ...

. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2021. In 2014, the

(IMF) identified Atif as one of twenty-five young economists who it expects will shape the world's thinking about the global economy in the future.

References

External links

Home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mian, Atif 1975 births American academics of Pakistani descent American Ahmadis American Muslims American economists Imran Khan administration Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Pakistani Ahmadis Pakistani economists Princeton University faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty University of Chicago faculty MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni Fellows of the Econometric Society