The SPE is delighted to invite you to an evening meeting on Careers in Economics on October 7th 2019. At this event, hosted jointly with Aviva and chaired by Catherine Connolly, we talk to three leading economists – Alison Cottrell, Janet Henry and Osama Rahman – about their careers. We will discuss the highs and lows, the choices they made and why, and how they see the future of the economics profession.
This event is open to all, both SPE and non-SPE members alike. In order to attend you will need to register with the SPE office on 01264 737552 or admin@spe.org.uk
Alison Cottrell is CEO of the Banking Standards Board (BSB), a non-statutory organisation established to help raise standards of behaviour and competence across the UK banking sector, and open to all banks and building societies operating in the UK. Her career spans both the private and public sectors, beginning in the City as an economist covering international fixed income and currency markets. She joined HM Treasury in 2001, working in a number of domestic and European policy roles including, most latterly, that of Director of Financial Services (a policy position she combined for some time with that of Director of Corporate Services, focusing on the department’s people and culture).
Alison became the first CEO of the BSB at its start-up in April 2015. Since then the organisation has grown to over 30 people including, very recently, a new behavioural economics team.
Janet Henry has been HSBC’s Global Chief Economist since August 2015. She was previously HSBC’s Chief European Economist and is a member of Handelsblatt’s Shadow ECB Council. Over the past three years much of her work has focused on the political and economic challenges that persist in the post-crisis era, notably the growing polarisation of wage growth and household wealth within major advanced economies as well as the structural drivers of low inflation. She has given evidence to financial committees of the EU Parliament on China and UK House of Lords on Europe.
Janet joined HSBC in 1996 in Hong Kong where she worked as an Asian economist in the run-up to, and aftermath of, the Asian crisis. From 1999 to 2007 she was a Global Economist during which time her original work on globalisation – including the global determinants of local inflation – was widely recognised. Janet’s career began at the Economist Intelligence Unit where she worked as an Asian economist in London and Hong Kong, having studied economics at University College London.
Osama Rahman has been Chief Analyst, Chief Scientific Adviser, and Director – Analysis Directorate at the Department for Education since April 2018, providing leadership to over 300 analysts and scientists. Prior to that, he was Director for Analytical Services and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for three and a half years. Osama joined the Civil Service in November 2003 working in the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), one of the MoJ’s predecessor departments as a Grade 7 Economic Adviser working on the Reform of Regulation of Legal Services in England and Wale. He became Chief Economist and Head of Economics and Statistics Division at DCA in early 2006.
Before joining the civil service, Osama worked at the Civil Aviation Authority for a year as a Senior Economist working on airports regulation. Prior to that he was a Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in Economics at various UK universities. He has a B.Sc. in Economics with Minors in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minneosta, USA), and M.A. in Economics from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois, USA).
Osama was born in the UK, his parents (both of whom are doctors) having moved to the UK from Bangladesh in the late 1960s. He considers Salford and Bangladesh ‘home’, is a Salford Red, is proud to fail the Tebbit test, still considers London to be ‘down South’, and has a large soft spot for Nigeria’s Super Eagles having lived in Jos, Nigeria for 7 years (from age 10 to 17). His addiction to Vimto and mangoes is known across the Civil Service and beyond!