About

I specialize in advising central banks on monetary policy and the development of the capacity to formulate and implement monetary policy. I joined the International Monetary Fund in 1976 from which I retired in 2003 as Assistant Director of the Monetary and Financial Systems Department. While at the IMF I led or participated in missions to the central banks of over twenty countries (including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgystan, Moldova, Serbia, Turkey, West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Zimbabwe) and was seconded as a visiting economist to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (1979-80), and to the World Bank’s World Development Report team in 1989. After retirement from the IMF I was a member of the Board of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority from 2003-10 and of the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review from 2010-2017. Prior to joining the IMF I was Assistant Prof of Economics at UVa from 1970-75. I am currently a fellow of Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise. In March 2019 Central Banking Journal awarded me for my “Outstanding Contribution for Capacity Building.” My most recent book is One Currency for Bosnia: Creating the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I have a BA in Economics from the UC Berkeley and a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago. My dissertation committee was chaired by Milton Friedman and included Robert J. Gordon.

6 Responses to About

S. M. Ali Abbas says:

July 29, 2011 at 9:50 pm

Dear Warren. I am an economist at the IMF and was reading your blog entry on size of government. Do you know of any attempt to develop a database of government size (one that takes into account the government spend, but also the burden placed on taxpayers of tax compliance, and of regulation, more generally). Grateful if you could provide some links. Thanks, Ali

- wcoats says:
  
  August 4, 2011 at 5:00 pm
  
  Ali, Your comment seems to have been cut off.
  
Dan Parker says:

January 10, 2014 at 10:22 pm

Dr Coats, I am a Penn doctoral student researching the development of the modern conservative coalition. I am currently in an archive listening to the recording of your panel with Norman Ture, Alan Reynolds, and Jack Kemp in 1975. At some point, I would love to hear your recollections of the conference.

- wcoats says:
  
  January 25, 2014 at 4:31 pm
  
  1975? To tell you the truth, I don’t remember it. What was the conference?
  
sbr66 says:

July 19, 2017 at 9:40 am

Dear Sir,
I’m working on the development of an online B2B platform that intends to use digital SDR assets for cross-border payments via blockchain technology.
Watched your Chicago Economics Society Talk online and wanted to reach out to you for advice.
Could you please confirm that you are currently using your Wcoats@aol.com email address?

Thanks & Regards,
-S

- wcoats says:
  
  July 31, 2017 at 7:38 am
  
  yes