George Kopits

George Kopits is a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, where his primary research interest focuses on EU policy issues. Since 2011, he has been a member of Portugal’s Public Finance Council. In 2014-16, he was an advisor at the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office. In 2012-13, he chaired the OECD Reference Group on Independent Fiscal Institutions and participated in Peru’s Commission on Strengthening the Macro-Fiscal Framework. From 2009 to 2011, Kopits served as the first chair of the Fiscal Council in Hungary—elected unanimously by Parliament. From 2004 to 2009, he was a member of the Monetary Council, National Bank of Hungary. Previous positions include assistant director at the International Monetary Fund (1974-2003) and financial economist at the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Treasury Department (1969-74). Besides involvement in fiscal and monetary policymaking in Hungary and the United States, Kopits headed technical assistance teams on economic policy issues to Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Also, he has been invited to provide advice to the authorities of Argentina, China, Colombia, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, South Africa, Slovakia, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, Venezuela, and the Western Balkans. Kopits has held visiting academic appointments at Bocconi, Budapest, Cape Town, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Siena, and Vienna universities. He authored numerous publications and is an occasional contributor to media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. Recent publications include: “How Could the Stability and Growth Pact be Simplified?” Euro Area Scrutiny (European Parliament, April 2018); “Toward a Closer Union in Europe: Elusive Mirage or Reality within Grasp?” in N. Costa Cabral and others, eds., The Euro and the Crisis: Future Perspectives for the Euro Zone (Springer, 2017); “Managing the Euro Debt Crisis” in L. Odor, ed., Rethinking Fiscal Policy after the Crisis (Cambridge University Press, 2017); “Coping with Fiscal Risk: Analysis and Practice” OECD Journal on Budgeting (November 2014); “Ireland’s Fiscal Framework: Options for the Future” Economic and Social Review (Spring 2014); Restoring Public Debt Sustainability: the Role of Independent Fiscal Institutions (Oxford University Press, 2013); “Monetary and Fiscal Policy from Transition to EU Integration” in B.Y. Kim and C. H. Lim, eds., Financial Sector Reform in Transition Economies: Implications for North Korea (Seoul University Press, 2009); and “Inflation Targeting under Stress” Central Banking (November 2008). Kopits holds a Ph.D. in economics from Georgetown University. He is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and was awarded the Heller Farkas and Popovics prizes in economics and finance.