World Bank names Nobel laureate Kremer chief economist

The World Bank on Wednesday appointed Nobel Prize-winning economist Michael Kremer as its next chief economist and senior vice president for development economics, making him the first person to arrive at the post with a Nobel already in hand.reuters+1

Kremer, 61, a University of Chicago professor who shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty, will begin the role on October 1, succeeding Indermit Gill, who retired last month. Previous chief economists Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Romer received the Nobel after their tenures at the institution.investing+1

A Record of Scaling Development Solutions

"Michael has spent his career not just identifying what works in development, but proving it at scale — and that is exactly the kind of thinking we need," World Bank President Ajay Banga said in a statement. Banga added that Kremer joins "at a time when the world needs bold solutions to its most urgent development challenges, including creating jobs that meet the aspirations of more than 1.2 billion young people reaching working age in the coming decade."economictimes+1

Kremer currently directs the Development Innovation Lab at the University of Chicago, where his research spans education, health, water, finance, and agriculture in developing countries. His work on deworming schoolchildren demonstrated a sharp drop in absenteeism and spurred governments across Africa and South Asia to provide 2 billion treatments since 2014. With his wife, British economist Rachel Glennerster, he pioneered Advance Market Commitments — binding donor contracts that incentivize pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for low-income countries — contributing to a pneumococcal vaccine that has reached 60 developing countries.reuters+2

Challenges Ahead

Kremer takes the post as developing nations contend with rising interest rates and higher energy prices in the wake of the U.S. war against Iran, compounded by a 23% drop in official development assistance in 2025 — the steepest decline on record. His start date falls shortly before the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Bangkok, Thailand.economictimes+1

"The World Bank Group has tremendous research capacity to develop and test innovative solutions to development problems — and the operational reach to scale them up and improve people's lives," Kremer said in a statement, adding that new technologies offered opportunities to boost growth despite the challenges. He co-founded Development Innovation Ventures, a USAID-administered fund that invested in more than 300 innovations reaching over 200 million people before it was shut down after President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year.reuters+2