Paul Donovan (economist)

Paul Donovan is a British economist and author. He is Global Chief Economist for the Swiss financial services firm UBS Wealth Management.[1]

Paul Donovan
Paul Donovan
Born (1972-03-31) 31 March 1972
United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
Alma materSt Anne's College, Oxford
University of London
OccupationUBS Wealth Management
Known forEconomist and author

Education

Donovan studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Anne's College, Oxford,[2] graduating in 1993. He also holds an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London.[3] Donovan is an Honorary Fellow of St Anne's College,[4] and a member of the Vice Chancellor's Circle of Oxford University.[5]

Career

In 1992 Donovan joined UBS Phillips and Drew, as the investment banking arm of UBS was then known, as an intern in the Fixed Income economics department. In 1995 he moved to be global economist. His appointment as Global Chief Economist of UBS Wealth Management was announced in June 2016. He has been a Managing Director of UBS since 2004 and sits as a member of the Wealth Management Global Investment Committee.[6]

Economic views and notable research

Donovan has co-authored two books on environmental economics with UBS colleague and fellow St Anne's College alumna Julie Hudson.[7] The book "From Red to Green" examined the concept of the environmental credit crunch, arguing that use of environmental resources could be considered to be an inter-temporal transfer of living standards in a similar manner to financial credit, and that the consequences of a credit crunch could usefully be applied to environmental issues. The subsequent book "Food policy and the environmental credit crunch" looked at the way in which food supply and consumption was dependent on non-renewable resources, and how this may be rectified so as to provide sustainable food supply in the future. A central argument was the need to control waste with holistic policies, not looking at specific parts of the food distribution process in isolation.[8]

In 2015 Donovan published "The Truth About Inflation" arguing that inflation was a poorly understood concept in financial markets. In particular he focused on the issue of inflation inequality - the idea that aggregate inflation indices do not accurately portray the cost of living for certain groups in society. In particular, as income inequality increases, Donovan contends that a plutocratic statistic like consumer price inflation will increasingly misrepresent the cost of living for lower income groups in society.[9][10][11] Donovan has criticised the idea of helicopter money arguing that it reduces policy inflexibility, has dire consequences if not controlled, and that raising price inflation expectations may not be desirable if wage inflation expectations remain weak.[12]

Donovan was one of the collaborators on the Guy Fox Project's book "How the world really works, the economy", a guide to economics aimed at children of around 10 years of age.[13][14]

Donovan is a self-described political economist, and has been critical of the veneration of mathematical modelling in economics.[15] He supports the idea of the relationship between policy and the economy as being in flux (the Lucas critique).[16]

Donovan has written several pieces of research on the economic damage that arises from prejudice in a society, focusing on the impact on productivity and labour markets. Donovan has argued that prejudice irrationally discards skilled workers, undermines existing workers' skills, and reduces flexibility in the workplace.[17][18] Donovan has specifically addressed the economic consequences of prejudice around same sex marriage, arguing that the act of denying groups in society access to an institution that grants social status should be considered to be prejudice, and that this undermines economic efficiency.[19][20]

In 2006 Donovan authored a detailed analysis of the London 2012 Olympic games, in his role as economic adviser to the East London Business Alliance (ELBA).[21] In this research, Donovan argued that the macro economic benefits of the games could amount to between £5.9bn and £7.8bn of long term gains for the London Boroughs of Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets.

While engaged in a discussion in June 2019 concerning Chinese consumer prices, Donovan commented that the swine influenza — which was causing the cost of pork to rise – mattered to "Chinese pigs and those who ate them".[22] Donovan later apologized for his remarks before taking a leave of absence from UBS, saying "I made a mistake and I unwittingly used hugely culturally insensitive language."[22] Patrick Winters and Benjamin Robertson of Bloomberg reported that "local rivals of UBS, which have been trying to take bigger piece of a business dominated by the established Western wealth managers, were quick to condemn Donovan's comments."[23]

Other interests

In 2003 Donovan co-founded the Peter Culverhouse Memorial Trust, a charity funding long term cancer care and research into low grade glioma.[24] He sits on the investment committee of St Anne's College, Oxford[6] and has worked with the Bridge Academy school in Hackney.[25] Donovan describes himself as a keen skier and an amateur heavyweight boxer.[26]

gollark: DC: 99% Random Chance(and good internet)
gollark: Quite.
gollark: It *could* just be day-based or something.
gollark: What if the trick is to ask TJ09 politely?
gollark: I have one hatching in a day and a half; maybe it'll be different.

References
  1. "BRIEF-UBS says Paul Donovan to join as global chief economist in wealth management". 2 June 2016 – via Reuters.
  2. "St Anne's College, Oxford > About the College > Distinguished alumnae".
  3. "Paul Donovan - LinkedIn".
  4. "St Anne's College, Oxford > About the College > Emeritus, Honorary, & Supernumerary and Senior Research Fellows".
  5. Paul Donovan Biography from UBS web page (PDF)
  6. "UBS news - UBS Global topics".
  7. "St Anne's College, Oxford > Alumnæ & friends > Senior Member news and updates".
  8. "Food policy and the environmental credit crunch". The Jakarta Post. 25 November 2013.
  9. "The Truth About Inflation". Routledge. 14 December 2015.
  10. "Book Review: The Truth About Inflation by Paul Donovan". Routledge. 5 June 2016.
  11. "UBS Chief Economist's Comment 'Is inequality worse than it seems?' 27 June 2017" (PDF). UBS.
  12. UBS (11 August 2016). "What's up with helicopter money" – via YouTube.
  13. "Guy Fox".
  14. "Amazon.co.uk: Paul Donovan: Books, Biogs, Audiobooks, Discussions".
  15. UBS (14 December 2015). "Paul Donovan on Paul A. Samuelson - UBS Nobel Perspectives" – via YouTube.
  16. UBS (6 July 2016). "What's Paul Donovan's view on Robert E. Lucas? - UBS Nobel Perspectives" – via YouTube.
  17. "Does prejudice hinder economic growth? - FT Alphaville 30 June 2011".
  18. "The Bottom Line? Bigotry is bad for business - Nikkei Asian Review 24 March 2016".
  19. Cosgrave, Jenny (21 July 2015). "Same-sex marriage law is good for US economy: UBS".
  20. "Donovan: Same sex marriage boosts the economy - FT Alphaville 5 June 2013".
  21. "Winning by taking part: East London's economy and the Olympics 23 February 2006" (PDF). UBS.
  22. "Paul Donovan" (Interview). Interviewed by Francine Lacqua. Bloomberg TV. 13 June 2019.
  23. Winters, Patrick; Robertson, Benjamin (14 June 2019). "UBS Puts Donovan on Leave as China Pork Comment Sparks Furor". Bloomberg.
  24. "Welcome to the PCMT website".
  25. "Lecture Series - Bridge Academy".
  26. "Paul Donovan - Volatility Investing".
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