Nobel Laureate Michael Kremer Named Next World Bank Chief Economist

The World Bank on Wednesday named Nobel laureate and University of Chicago professor Michael Kremer as its next chief economist, succeeding Indermit Gill, who retired last month. Kremer, 61, won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2019 jointly with Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. He previously taught economics at Harvard University.He starts his new role on October 1, shortly before the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Bangkok, Thailand.Kremer is known for using rigorous research to develop innovative solutions to real-world problems, often setting up programs that have helped small farmers and given millions of people access to vaccines and school health programs."Michael has spent his career not just identifying what works in development, but proving it at scale - and that is exactly the kind of thinking we need," World Bank President Ajay Banga said in…