Danny M. Leipziger

Dr. Danny Leipziger is Professor of International Business and International Affairs at George Washington University, where he is the Managing Director of the Growth Dialogue. Professor Leipziger has been a faculty member since 2009, where he has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses on macroeconomics, applied development, financial crises, and international economics, and he has taught in the Capital Markets Graduate Program for mid-career government officials.

He has been advisor to the governments of South Korea, Vietnam, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Argentina, and South Africa, among others. Dr. Leipziger is a frequent moderator or panelist at global conferences, such as those organized by the WEF, Central Banks, the World Bank and IMF, think-tanks, and universities, drawing on his experience in international development and global finance.

A former Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management at the World Bank (2004-2009), he served three World Bank Presidents and held senior management positions in the East Asia and Latin America Regions. While at the World Bank, he led the team preparing the emergency financial bailout loan to Korea in 1997. He was the World Bank’s Director for Finance, Private Sector and Infrastructure for Latin America (1998-2004). He served previously in the U.S. Department of State and was a Member of the Secretary’s Policy Planning Staff.

Dr. Leipziger was Vice Chair of the Spence Commission on Growth and Development and he served on the WEF Council on Economic Progress.

An economist with a Ph. D. from Brown University, he has published widely in development economics, finance and banking, and on East Asia and Latin America. He is the author of several books, including Lessons of East Asia, Stuck in the Middle, and Globalization and Growth and more than 50 refereed and published articles in journals and other outlets. He is contributor to VoxEU, the Financial Times, Project Syndicate, and other media, and he has appeared on Bloomberg, BBC, an CCTV and Korean TV as expert commentator.