Professor

Nicholas Barr is Professor of Public Economics at the London School of Economics, the author of numerous articles, and author or editor of over 20 books, including The Economics of the Welfare State (sixth edition, 2020), Financing Higher Education: Answers from the UK (with Iain Crawford, 2005) and Pension Reform: A Short Guide (with Peter Diamond, 2010, also in Spanish). The core of his work is an exploration of how market failures both explain and justify the existence of welfare states. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the International Social Security Review and Associate Editor of CESifo Economic Studies, the Australian Economic Review and the Journal of the Economics of Ageing. Barr’s academic writing is enriched by his wide-ranging policy work, including spells at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils on Demographic Shifts and on Ageing Society. He has advised governments in the post-communist countries, and in the UK, Australia, Chile, China, Hungary, New Zealand and South Africa. He was a member of a small group invited to advise the government of China, presenting their findings to the premier in 2004. His more recent activities include membership of the Chile Bravo Commission.