Howard Archer

Chief European & UK Economist, Senior Director, CAFG

Dr. Howard Archer, Chief European and UK Economist of the Country Analysis and Forecasting Group for IHS Global Insight, has 25 years' professional experience in economic analysis and forecasting. Previously, Dr. Archer served as chief European economist for Standard & Poor's DRI, which he had joined in June 2000.

Dr. Archer manages a team of economists responsible for IHS Global Insight European macroeconomic work, and is heavily involved in all aspects of the analysis. He specialises in the UK and Eurozone economies. Dr. Archer deals extensively with the media and is widely quoted in the press, as well as appearing on television and the radio. He was a founder member of the CityA.M. newspaper's shadow Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee and served on it for several years.

Prior to joining DRI, Dr. Archer was a senior economist in NatWest Group's market intelligence department, which he joined in 1987. He was responsible for the overall production of the department's major publication and in charge of the international forecasts. He also wrote briefing papers for the bank's senior executives.

Dr. Archer is the author of several professional and academic articles that have appeared in publications such as the CBI European Business Handbook, as well as in the Accountancy and Treasurer magazines. Archer holds a PhD in multinational businesses from the University of Reading. He also holds an MA from the University of Reading and a BSc (Hons) from the University of Surrey.

Zanny Minton Beddoes

Economics Editor, The Economist

Zanny Minton Beddoes is The Economist's Economics Editor, based in Washington DC. She oversees the magazine's global economics coverage, managing a team of writers around the world. Before moving to Washington in April 1996, Ms. Minton Beddoes was The Economist's emerging-markets correspondent based in London. She travelled extensively in Latin America and Eastern Europe, writing editorials and country analyses. She has written surveys of the World Economy, Latin American finance, global finance and Central Asia.

Ms. Minton Beddoes joined The Economist in 1994 after spending two years as an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where she worked on macroeconomic adjustment programmes in Africa and the transition economies of Eastern Europe. Before joining the IMF, she worked as an adviser to the Minister of Finance in Poland, as part of a small group headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University.

Ms. Minton Beddoes has written extensively about international financial issues including enlargement of the European Union, the future of the International Monetary Fund and economic reform in emerging economies. She has published in Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, contributed chapters to several conference volumes and, in 1997, edited "Emerging Asia", a book on the future of emerging-markets in Asia, published by the Asian Development Bank. In May 1998 she testified before Congress on the introduction of the Euro.

Ms. Minton Beddoes is a regular television and radio commentator. (In the US, on NPR's "Morning Edition"; PBS "Newshour", and The Charlie Rose Show. In Britain, she has appeared on Newsnight and the Today programme). She is a trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a member of the Research Advisory Board of the Committee for Economic Development.

She holds an undergraduate degree from Oxford University and a master's degree from Harvard University.

Source: Zanny Minton Beddoes, January 2012

Nariman Behravesh

Chief Economist, IHS

Dr. Nariman Behravesh is Chief Economist of IHS and author of Spin-Free Economics: A No-Nonsense, Nonpartisan Guide to Today's Global Economic Debates (McGraw-Hill). Directing the entire economic forecasting process at IHS, he is responsible for developing the economic outlook and risk analysis for the United States, Europe, Japan, China and other emerging markets. He oversees the work of over 400 professionals, located in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa who cover economic, financial and political developments in over 200 countries.

Behravesh is a "Bloomberg Best" and ranked as one of Bloomberg's Top-10 economists for 2009 and 2010. MarketWatch designated IHS Global Insight "Forecaster of the Year" in 2009 and has bestowed several Forecaster of the Month accolades since. He and his team were designated no. 1 in USA Today's 2004 ranking of top economic forecasters, and in Reuters' 2004 survey of major currency exchange rate forecasters. In 2008, he was ranked number 2 by USA Today. In The Wall Street Journal's annual ranking of US forecasters, Behravesh was ranked no. 3 (out of 56) for 2006 and was the only forecaster to place in the top six for 2003, 2004 and 2006. As the chief economics spokesperson at IHS, Behravesh is quoted extensively in the media on such topics as the outlook for the US and global economies, exchange rates, the budget deficit, the trade deficit, globalisation, country risk and sovereign debt crises. He is cited frequently in leading business publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times, USA Today, Investor's Business Daily, Business Week, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes and US News and World Report. He also regularly appears on national radio and television programmes including BBC World Business Report, NBC Nightly News, CNN Headline News, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer (PBS), Fox News, CNBC, Bloomberg TV and Radio, and All Things Considered and Market Place on National Public Radio.

Behravesh was the host of the PBS television series "Inside the Global Economy." In addition to his recent book, he has authored numerous articles in such publications as European Affairs and Credit Week, co-authored two books – Economics U$A (now in its 8th edition) and Microcomputers, Corporate Planning and Decision Support Systems – and was a contributing author to a book on scenario analysis, entitled Learning From the Future. His op-ed pieces have also appeared in the Financial Times, Newsweek International, The Times and the Boston Globe.

Before joining IHS, Behravesh was chief economist for Global Insight (now an IHS company). Prior to that, he was chief international economist for Standard & Poor's. He also held a number of other positions, including president and CEO of Oxford Economics U.S.A. and Group Senior Vice President of WEFA. Early in his career Behravesh worked at the Congressional Budget Office and the Federal Reserve. He has been covering the global economy for over 35 years.

Behravesh holds PhD and MA degrees in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has lived in Europe and the Middle East and is fluent in several languages. He travels extensively to Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Dale Ford

Chief Analyst, Head of Electronics & Semiconductor Research, IHS

Dale Ford, Chief Analyst and Head of Electronics and Semiconductor Research for IHS, is a well-respected industry analyst with years of experience producing award-winning market research reports. At IHS, Ford manages the research teams responsible for competitive analysis, forecasting and supply/demand research of the electronics components industry. In addition, Ford focuses on research and enhanced visibility on the products, technologies and players shaping the wireless communications market.

Mr. Ford was chief analyst and director for Dataquest/Gartner Group, leading a team that delivered market research in seven syndicated services covering semiconductor applications, supply and pricing and detailed equipment analysis. Prior to Dataquest/Gartner Group, he served at Sun Microsystems as a product marketing associate.

Ford holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering with honours from Brigham Young University and a MBA from The Wharton School.

Nigel Gault

Chief US Economist, IHS Global Insight

Nigel Gault, Chief US Economist for IHS Global Insight, is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the IHS macroeconomic forecasts and analyses of the US economy. He is frequently quoted in the press as a spokesperson for IHS Global Insight on the US economic outlook.

Dr. Gault possesses more than 25 years of experience in economic modelling, forecasting and analysis gained in the United States and Europe. He and his team produce short- and long-term forecasts for the US economy, integrated with IHS outlooks for energy, the rest of the world and key sectors of the economy. He and his team were named Forecasters of the Year for 2009 by Dow Jones Marketwatch for the accuracy of their projections of key economic indicators. His team is also a six-time winner of the Marketwatch Forecaster of the Month accolade, most recently in July and August 2011.

Gault has more than 20 years of experience in economic analysis and forecasting. He holds an MA in economics from Cambridge University and a PhD in economics from Harvard University.

David Hartwell

Senior Middle East Analyst, IHS Jane's

David Hartwell is the IHS Jane's senior country risk expert for the Middle East and North Africa (encompassing the Arabian peninsula, the Levant, the Mediterranean African states and the Horn of Africa). He has been at IHS  Jane's for seven years, and previously worked at the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence for five years in a number of analytical posts linked to Middle East politics and security.

He has a degree in Political Science and International Studies from the University of Birmingham and an MA in War Studies from King's College London

Allister Heath

Editor, City A.M.

Allister Heath is the Editor of City AM (since 2008), the world's first free daily financial newspaper, and is credited with turning the paper's turnaround success in recent years. He was previously Editor of the weekly magazine The Business, and an Associate Editor of The Spectator. His scoops include revealing how Germany's tax burden is set to overtake Britain's, the contents of the Conservative Party’s Forsyth Commission report, which called for £21bn in tax cuts and the Bear Stearns crisis.

Heath studied economics, first at the LSE and then at Oxford, before embarking on a journalistic career that has followed a sharp upward curve.

Source: Allister Heath, February 2012

Martin Huefner

Chief Economist, Assenagon Asset Management

Martin W. Huefner is chief economist of Assenagon Asset Management S.A. in Luxemburg. For many years he was director of the economics department of Deutsche Bank in Frankfort and chief economist of HypoVereinsbank in Munich. He was chairman of the renowned Eco-nomic Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Banking Association in Brussels. In addi-tion, for ten years he was chairman resp. deputy chairman of the Economic and Monetary Policy Committee of the German Banking Association. He was a member of the Shadow Comittee of European Central Bank, which was organized by the German Handelsblatt and the Wall Street Journal.

He is a regular columnist to "Finanz und Wirtschaft" in Zurich and writes for important Ger-man und international papers. He has published a couple of books, amongst others "Save the Euro" (2011), "Europe – the power of tomorrow" (2006) and "Comeback for Germany" (2007).

Huefner studied economics in Paris and in Munich and holds the degrees of Diplom Volkswirt and PhD in Economics.

Martin W. Huefner holds numerous honorary positions. Amongst others he is fellow of the Centre for Applied Policy Research at the University of Munich. He is member of the aca-demic board of the Bertelsmann Sustainable Governance Indicator. He is chairman of the supervisory board of FondsConsult Research in Munich.

Source: Martin W. Huefner, February 2012

Catherine Hunter

Senior Analyst, IHS Energy

Catherine is an energy sector expert responsible for coverage of the Levant region of the Middle East and Sudan.

She heads the IHS World Markets Energy service which focuses on government policy, company strategy and operations as concerns oil, gas and electricity. Catherine has travelled frequently to the Middle East region and studied Arabic, politics and economic development.

Diego Iscaro

Senior Economist, IHS Global Insight

Diego Iscaro joined IHS Global Insight in September 2007 and is responsible for economic analysis and forecasting for several countries in the Western European region. Prior to joining IHS Global Insight, Diego worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland as a Risk Analyst and in its Coutts and Co. division. Prior to that, Diego worked for Citibank in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Diego holds an MSc in Economics from Birkbeck College (University of London) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Economics with Mathematics from the same university. Diego speaks fluent English and Spanish.

Roland Nash

Senior Partner, Verno Capital

Roland Nash joined Verno Capital in early 2011. Between 2008 and 2010, he was Chief Strategist and Co-Head of Renaissance Capital's Equity Product Group, responsible for managing a 200-strong sales, trading and research team in New York, London and across Africa and the CIS.

Nash began his career in Renaissance Capital in 1996 as Chief Economist, and during his time there worked as Head of Credit Research, Head of Fixed Income Research, Head of Equities Research, Chief Strategist, Head of Research, and co-Head of the Equities Group. Prior to joining Renaissance Capital, Roland spent two years as a senior economic expert at the Russian European Centre for Economic Policy (RECEP), where he was involved in advising the Russian government on economic policy. During that period he was the author of "Russian Economic Trends," one of Russia's leading macroeconomic journals, and acted as advisor to the Ministry of Economy and the Centre for Economic Reform. He went on to lead a group of economists within the RECEP organization. Roland graduated from Balliol College, Oxford University, where he received a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics.

Source: Roland Nash, February 2012

Duncan Meldrum

Senior Director, Center for Forecasting and Modeling, IHS

For the past two years, Duncan Meldrum has been the Senior Director responsible for the Center for Forecasting and Modeling, a research team that ensures IHS Global Insight maintains its innovative lead in economic forecasting. The Center researches methods and techniques for economic forecasting and modeling, supports the IHS Insight companies forecasting activities, and creates and maintains the EViews econometric software package.  He has experience in macroeconomics, country risk analysis, industry modeling, and applications of economic data to company performance analysis.

Prior to joining IHS Global Insight, Meldrum spent thirty years at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., the last twenty as chief economist.  At Air Products, he advised the executive team on economic matters, established the global economic forecast for planning purposes, provided microeconomics support to business areas, and gave frequent outlook and economics presentations to major industry events and key customers.

Meldrum is a past president and Fellow of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), a member of the American Economics Association, the Conference of Business Economists and the National Business Economic Issues Council. 

Meldrum has a Ph.D. in Economics from Lehigh University, a M.S. in Operations Research from the US Naval Postgraduate School and a B.S. from the US Naval Academy.

Jan Randolph

Director of Sovereign Risk, IHS Global Insight

Jan Randolph, Director of Sovereign Risk for IHS Global Insight, is an experienced international economist and country risk manager.

Mr. Randolph has held positions in a variety of international financial risk management firms in financial services and has over six years of international economics experience with IHS.

He holds graduate degrees from the Universities of London and Bristol.

Xianfang Ren

Senior China Analyst, IHS Global Insight China Regional Service

Ren is a Beijing-based Senior Analyst in the Global Economics and Country Risk Group, contributing to the China research of the China Regional Service and the Country Analysis and Forecasting Service. Ren has extensive experience in the analysis of China’s economic, policy and regulatory developments. Ren holds an MA in international trade and investment policy from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University.

Fabien Roques

IHS CERA Senior Director

Fabien Roques, IHS CERA Director, European Power, leads the IHS CERA research on European power and carbon dioxide (CO2) markets. His expertise includes market design and regulation, restructuring, and valuation work for corporate and government clients.

Mr. Roques has particular expertise in using quantitative models to analyze strategic decisions such as investment under uncertainty. He has worked on numerous tailored consulting assignments for clients, including major European utilities, financial investors, and European regulators. Before joining IHS CERA Mr. Roques was with the International Energy Agency, where he contributed to a range of studies including the World Energy Outlook energy and CO2 emission scenarios. Previously as an independent consultant and a researcher at the Cambridge University Electricity Policy Research Group, he worked on a range of projects related to market design, investment valuation, and portfolio optimization in European power markets.

Mr. Roques holds an MSc from the Ecole Centrale Lyon and an MPhil and PhD from the University of Cambridge.

Michael Stoppard

Managing Director, Global Gas, IHS CERA

Michael Stoppard, Managing Director of Global Gas for IHS CERA, is a specialist in the international gas business. Responsible for the IHS CERA global and interregional analysis of liquefied natural gas, including business models and LNG trading and shipping, Mr. Stoppard led the company into LNG with the study.

Gareth Thomas

Director EViews Econometrics, IHS

Gareth Thomas has been part of the EViews team for more than six years. EViews, purchased by IHS in 2010, is the world’s leading econometric and modeling software. Thomas’ primary role at EViews is as a developer adding new econometric procedures to the software, including everything from initial research of the algorithm to the implementation of it in EViews and writing its documentation.

Thomas also directs the customer facing support team for EViews. He created and continues to maintain the EViews user forum, as well as being in control of customer support emails and phone calls.

Thomas joined the EViews team directly after gaining his Ph.D. in Economics from Arizona State University.  Prior to graduate school, he worked as a transport consultant including work for the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and for the BBC.

Ralf Wiegert

Director Consulting, IHS

Dr. Ralf Wiegert is Director Consulting with IHS Global Insight’s Economics and Country Risk (ECR) team, having joined the company in 2004. He has specialized on Economic Impact Analysis since December 2012 and is currently building a related team for the EMEA region.

Prior to that, he was Principal Economist, specialized on European and CIS emerging markets, and part of the global macro forecasting group within ECR. He conducted daily analysis of economic and political developments, risk assessment, and forecasting and was directly responsible for IHS Global Insight’s macroeconomic and risk models of Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. He has written extensively about economic developments in Europe and the CIS, presenting analysis and forecasts at numerous client seminar and conferences.

In addition to his core role, Ralf Wiegert has been managing several projects on global macroeconomic scenarios for strategic business planning. He has also frequently presented IHS Global Insight’s European as well as the global economic outlook at seminars and conferences. Furthermore, he has been participating in and leading IHS-internal projects related to the evaluation of forecasts, to the improvement of forecasting processes and to tailored databanks for forecasting purposes. 

Prior to joining IHS Global Insight, Ralf Wiegert worked as head of the Russia research group at the European Institute for International Economic Relations, following his graduation from Potsdam University with a Ph.D. in Economics in 2002. 

Linda Yueh

Economics Editor, Bloomberg TV; Professor, London Business School; Fellow Oxford University

Linda Yueh is an economist, author and broadcaster. She is currently Economics Editor at Bloomberg TV, the global 24-hour news network where she provides analysis of the top business, economic and financial news stories.

Linda is a particular expert on the global economy, macroeconomics, Asian economies, rise of emerging markets, advanced economies, international law and economic growth. She is considered one of the world's foremost experts on the Chinese economy. She is Director of the China Growth Centre at Oxford University which focuses on researching economic issues of relevance to China and the global economy.

Linda is also a Fellow in Economics at Oxford University and Adjunct Professor of Economics at the London Business School. Linda has been chosen as one of the "Business Thinkers 50", and is regarded as one of the most respected business commentators in the world. She was previously a regular contributor to the BBC "World Business Report" and BBC World News covering global economic, financial and business issues. She was also a regular guest host on various CNBC business programmes, such as their flagship show Squawk Box, Worldwide Exchange, European Closing Bell and Europe Tonight.

Linda's is the author of 6 books and Editor of a new book series for Routledge on Economic Growth and Development. Her latest book, Enterprising China: Business, Economic and Legal Developments Since 1979, covers how business has changed during the past 30 years and how the market could evolve in the 21st century. The book includes 12 original case studies and is available from Amazon. Her other books include Macroeconomics (co-authored with Graeme Chamberlin) which is the recommended textbook for UK government economists, The Future of Asian Trade and Growth (editor), The Law and Economics of Globalisation (editor) and Globalisation and Economic Growth in China (co-edited with Yang Yao).

She served as a special advisor to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House). She is an advisor and board member to several organisations including the World Bank, European Commission, and a Non-Executive Director of JP Morgan Asian Investment Trust.

Source: Linda Yueh, January 2012