Robert J. Barro is one of the world’s leading economists, widely recognized for his influential ideas on fiscal stability, government policy, and macroeconomic theory. A professor at Harvard University, as well as a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Barro has played a major role in shaping debates on economic growth, public debt, and monetary policy. His perspectives on issues such as recessions, financial regulation, and global competition frequently appear in major publications like The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Bloomberg, and Business Week.

Throughout his career, Barro has contributed extensively to academic research and public discourse, serving as co-editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics and holding leadership roles in major economic associations. He has authored numerous influential books and studies on macroeconomics and growth, including collaborations with Xavier Sala-i-Martin. His recent research explores diverse topics such as the relationship between religion and political economy, as well as the effects of rare economic disasters on financial markets and overall economic activity. 

Maurice Obstfeld is a prominent economist specializing in the global economy, currently serving as a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since 2019. He is also Professor of Economics emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught for over three decades, and has held previous academic positions at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University. His work focuses on international macroeconomics, including exchange rates, global capital markets, and financial crises.

Beyond academia, Obstfeld has held key policy roles, including serving as Economic Counsellor and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund and as a member of the US President’s Council of Economic Advisers. He has received numerous prestigious awards and delivered major international lectures, while also contributing extensively to the field through over a hundred publications. He is coauthor of leading textbooks such as International Economics (with Paul Krugman and Marc Melitz) and Foundations of International Macroeconomics (with Kenneth Rogoff), and holds a PhD from MIT along with mathematics degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Cambridge. 

Luis Felipe Céspedes is a Chilean economist and current board member of the Central Bank of Chile since February 2022. He holds a degree in business and economics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and a PhD in Economics from New York University. He served as Chile’s Minister of Economy, Development, and Tourism between 2014 and 2017, and has built a distinguished career in both public policy and academia.

Céspedes has held several key economic roles, including Manager of Economic Research at the Central Bank of Chile and Chief Economic Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Finance. He has also worked as an economist at the International Monetary Fund and participated as a visiting researcher and professor at institutions such as Columbia University and Rutgers University. Currently, he is also a professor at the University of Chile and a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development. His academic work includes numerous publications on macroeconomics, monetary and fiscal policy, exchange rates, and international finance. 

Claudio Borio is a prominent economist who served as Head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) from 2013 to 2024. He joined the BIS in 1987 and held several senior roles, including Deputy Head of the department, Director of Research and Statistics, and Head of Secretariat for key global committees such as the Committee on the Global Financial System and the Markets Committee. His long tenure reflects a significant contribution to global monetary and financial policy discussions.

Before joining the BIS, Borio worked as an economist at the OECD and was a lecturer and research fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford University. He earned his DPhil, MPhil, and a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Oxford. Throughout his career, he has authored numerous influential publications on monetary policy, banking, finance, and financial stability, establishing himself as a leading voice in these fields. 

Francesco Bianchi is the Louis J. Maccini Professor of Economics at Johns Hopkins University and a co-editor of the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics. He is a member of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the National Bureau of Economic Research. Professor Bianchi received his Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University in 2009. Before joining Johns Hopkins, he was a professor at Duke University. He has held visiting or teaching positions at UCLA, NYU, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and Northwestern University. In 2015 he was awarded the Wim Duisenberg Research fellowship and in 2010 he received the Zellner Thesis Award in Business and Economic Statistics. He has published in the American Economic Review, the Review of Economic Studies, the Review of Economics and Statistics, The Journal of Monetary Economics, the Journal of Finance, and other leading academic journals. He has served as associate editor of the Journal of Monetary Economics, Quantitative Economics, the European Economic Review, and the Journal of Applied Econometrics.

He has discussed his research at the 2022 Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, the 2021 G20 FWG meeting, and at numerous central banks. Professor Bianchi’s main research interests involve the use of machine learning techniques to improve forecasts, the role of agents’ beliefs in explaining macroeconomic dynamics, the interaction between monetary and fiscal policy, and the effects of political agendas and monetary policy on asset prices.

Juan José Ospina holds a strong academic background in economics and business, with a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago (2010–2017), where he specialized in asset pricing and applied macroeconomics. He also earned a Master’s degree in Economics and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Prior to that, he completed a Master’s in Economics and undergraduate degrees in Industrial Engineering and Economics at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia.

Professionally, Juan José Ospina has built a career in economic research and public policy, currently serving as Deputy Manager of Monetary Policy and Economic Information since 2019. He has held several roles at Colombia’s central bank (Banco de la República), including Head of the Public Sector Section and researcher positions. Earlier in his career, he worked as a researcher, lecturer, and teaching assistant at the University of Chicago, and as a risk management specialist at the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia. 

Rodrigo Valdés is Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department at the International Monetary Fund, having previously served as Director of the Western Hemisphere Department. He has also been a professor of economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Chile’s Minister of Finance from 2015 to 2017. With over 16 years of experience in the public sector, he held senior roles at the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Chile, where he led macroeconomic analysis and was responsible for the Monetary Policy Report.

In addition to his public service, Valdés has extensive experience in international organizations and the private sector. At the IMF, he served as Deputy Director in both the Western Hemisphere and European Departments. In finance, he led macroeconomic research for Latin America at BTG Pactual, chaired BancoEstado, and worked at Barclays Capital in New York as Chief Economist for Latin America. He holds a PhD in Economics from MIT and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Chile. 

Jessica has extensive experience in macroeconomic and financial analysis. She previously served as Director of Economic Analysis at Casa de Bolsa Finamex, where she led the evaluation of Mexico’s economic and financial conditions, produced forecasts for key macroeconomic variables, and provided essential insights to support decision-making.

Before that, she worked at the Bank of Mexico, where she held various roles in the Economic Research Department, eventually becoming Manager of Monetary Research. During her time at the central bank, she developed interest rate scenarios for the Monetary Policy Committee, analyzed the impact of financial markets on the economy, and oversaw the development of analytical tools for monetary policy analysis.

Jessica has a strong academic background. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Economics, graduating Summa Cum Laude, from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). She also holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She has been recognized by Bloomberg as one of the top inflation forecasters in Mexico and has received several awards for her research in economics and finance.