Nora Lustig | |
|---|---|
| Academic career | |
| Field | Development Economics, Inequality and Poverty, Latin American Economics |
Nora Lustig (born 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is the Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Economics in the Department of Economics at Tulane University and a non-resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development. [1] She has been in the vanguard of development economists who not only insist on the link between poverty reduction and macroeconomic policy but also advocate well-targeted social policies to help the poor break out of poverty for good.
Her curiosity about the causes of inequality and poverty and her drive to find solutions have been at the core of her work, which she has undertaken in academia, think tanks, and as an advisor to policymakers. Descended from a family of Austrian Jews who had fled anti-Semitism in pre–World War II Europe, Nora Lustig was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina and has spent most of her adult life in the United States and Mexico. She received her doctorate in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley[2].
As lead author of the World Development Report 2000/1 “Attacking Poverty” (World Bank), Nora Lustig was able to translate her research findings on the relationship between adverse shocks and poverty into relevant policy recommendations. Analyzing the dynamics of the Mexican economy has been the other main focus of her research. Her book Mexico, the Remaking of an Economy (Brookings Institution, 1992 and 1998) was selected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Book.
As co-founder and president of LACEA (Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association), she played a pivotal role in the creation and consolidation of the leading association of economists focused on Latin America, the launching of LACEA’s journal Economia and the organization of LACEA’s Network on Inequality and Poverty. She is affiliated with the Inter-American Dialogue, the Earth Institute and the Institute of Development Studies [3].