Sir Robert William Chote (born 24 January 1968) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and chair of the

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. He was previously chairman of the

Office of Budget Responsibility The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is a non-departmental public body funded by the UK Treasury, that the UK government established to provide independent economic forecasts and independent analysis of the public finances. It was formally c ...

from 2010 to 2020.

Education

Chote completed his secondary education at St Mary's College in

Bitterne Park Bitterne Park is a suburb and Electoral Ward of Southampton, England, on the Eastern bank of the River Itchen, built on sloping parkland which once formed part of Bitterne Manor. Bitterne Park Ward includes the suburbs of Bitterne Park, Bitt ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. In 1989 he graduated in economics from Queens' College, Cambridge (where he was president of

Cambridge University Social Democrats Cambridge University Liberal Association (CULA) is the student branch of the Liberal Democrats for students at Cambridge University. It is the successor to the Cambridge Student Liberal Democrats, which in turn was formed from the merger of Cam ...

, and, after the merger of the SDP with the Liberals, chair of Cambridge University Social and Liberal Democrats). He then studied journalism at

City University, London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

, and international public policy at the

School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of th ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

in the United States.

Career

Chote began his career as a reporter and columnist at ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', and was named Young Financial Journalist of the Year in 1993 when working for the ''

Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' by the Wincott Foundation. He then moved to 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 ...

'' to become Economics Editor in 1995. From 1999 he served as an adviser to the senior management of 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 ...

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, where he worked under Stanley Fischer and

Anne Krueger Anne Osborn Krueger (; born February 12, 1934) is an American economist. She was the World Bank Chief Economist from 1982 to 1986, and the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2001 to 2006. She is current ...

. Chote was appointed director of the

Institute for Fiscal Studies The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is an economic research institute based in London, United Kingdom, which specialises in UK taxation and public policy. It produces both academic and policy-related findings. The institute's aim is to "ad ...

in October 2002. He has also served as a member of the Statistics Advisory Committee of the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...

. In September 2010, he was appointed as chairman of the

, succeeding

Sir Alan Budd Sir Alan Peter Budd (born 16 November 1937) is a prominent British economist, who was a founding member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in 1997. He left the MPC in May 1999, and between August 1999 and 2008 was Provos ...

. This appointment was subject to Parliamentary approval which was received. He started as Chairman on 4 October 2010. As of 2015, Chote was paid a salary of between £150,000 and £154,999 by the department, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. He served two five-year terms and stepped down in 2020. In March 2021, he began as inaugural chair of the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council, which was established to provide independent scrutiny of the NI public finances. On 1 June 2022, Chote was appointed as chairman of the

Honours and awards

Chote was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to fiscal policy and economy.

Personal life

Since 1997, Chote has been married to Dame Sharon White,McElwee, M (2000) ''The Great and the Good? The rise of the new class'', p, 55. London: Centre for Policy Studies. chairman of the

John Lewis Partnership The John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company which operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose & Partners supermarkets, its banking and financial services, and other retail-related activities. The privately-held pu ...

and previously the chief executive of Ofcom. The couple have two children.

References

External links

Bio at the Institute for Fiscal Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chote, Robert Living people Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Alumni of City, University of London Johns Hopkins University alumni People educated at St Mary's College, Southampton British male journalists 1968 births Knights Bachelor 20th-century British economists 21st-century British economists 20th-century British journalists 20th-century British male writers The Independent people Financial Times editors