About Us

Programme Objectives

• To provide an avenue for the Fellows to share their research and exchange ideas on finance and economic matters
• To connect Barbadians with economic and finance luminaries
• To encourage local and regional discussion on international economic developments
• To bring attention to global developments in economics and finance

Activities

The flagship event of the Distinguished Visiting Fellowship Programme is the Caribbean Economic Forum, a 90-minute discussion guided by an experienced regional journalist that is broadcast on television and radio stations across the region as well as livestreamed.

In addition to the forum, the fellow delivers lectures, gives presentations, and conducts seminars and workshops with the Central Bank’s staff as well as with its key stakeholders and partners, including regional central banks; the Financial Services Commission (FSC); the Barbados Deposit Insurance Corporation (BDIC); commercial banks; credit unions; the University of the West Indies; government officials; and private sector leaders.

Distinguished Visiting Fellows

2020 – No Visiting Fellow

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying restriction on air travel made it impossible for the Central Bank of Barbados to host a visiting fellow. In lieu of the traditional programme, therefore, the Bank transformed the programme’s flagship event, the Caribbean Economic Forum into a six-edition virtual series. Dubbed “Caribbean Economic Forum: Beyond COVID”, the series ran from June to December ¹ , and featured panel discussions with local, regional, and international experts.

June
Topic: " COVID and Economic Policy: Protecting Jobs, Businesses, and the Economy"

Panelists:

• Timothy Antoine – Governor, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
• Richard Byles – Governor, Bank of Jamaica
• Dr. Gobind Ganga – Governor, Bank of Guyana
• Cleviston Haynes – Governor, Central Bank of Barbados

Related Articles

• Regional Central Bank Governors to Hold Discussion on Post-COVID Economy

July
Topic: " Reviving Caribbean Tourism"

Panelists:

• The Honourable Edmund Bartlett – Minister of Tourism, Jamaica
• Patricia Affonso-Dass – President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association
• Sue Springer – Director of Corporate and Government Relations at The Caribbean Council in the UK
• Professor Clive Landis – Chair of the University of the West Indies’ COVID-19 Task Force

Related Articles

• Tourism to be the Focus of the July Caribbean Economic Forum
• Welcoming Tourism Home

August
Topic: " The Future of Work is Here"

Panelists:

• Wayne Chen – President, Caribbean Employers’ Confederation
• Dr. Rochelle Haynes – International Human Resources Management Specialist and GigHR expert.
• Dr. Carmen Pagés-Serra – Chief, Labour Markets Division of the InterAmerican Development Bank

Related Articles

• August Caribbean Economic Forum to Tackle the New World of Work
• Seven Skills for the Future of Work
• Shattering Organisational Culture to Embrace Remote Work

September
Topic: " Adjusting to the Post-COVID-19 Economy"

Panelists:

• Dr. Dillon Alleyne – Deputy Director of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
• Dr. Peter Q. Blair – Assistant Professor, Harvard University
• Dr. Wendell Samuel – Deputy Division Chief, International Monetary Fund’s Western Hemisphere Department
• Dr. Eric Strobl – Professor in Environmental and Climate Economics, University of Bern (Switzerland)

Related Articles

• Rebuilding Regional Economies Post-COVID
• • Caribbean Economies Must Come Together to Tackle COVID-19

October
Topic: " How to Digitise an Economy"

Panelists:

• Her Excellency the Honourable Paula Ingabire – Minister of ICT and Innovation in Rwanda
• The Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett – Minister of Health, ICT, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, and Talent Development in St. Kitts and Nevis
• Rodney Taylor – Director of the Data Processing Department in Barbados’ Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Smart Technology.

Related Articles

• Regional and International Government Officials to Talk Digital Transformation
• Rwanda’s Digital Transformation

December
Topic: Repositioning the Caribbean: Lessons from 2020

Panelists:

• The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley – Prime Minister of Barbados
• The Honourable Dr. Ralph Gonsalves – Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Chairman of CARICOM
• Alejandro Werner – Director of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Western Hemisphere Department

Related Articles

• Caribbean Prime Ministers to Discuss the Way Forward for the Region

2019 – Dr. Linda Tesar

Linda Tesar is currently a Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Michigan. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1990 joined the faculty at Michigan in 1997. She is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and has been a visitor in the Research Departments of the International Monetary Fund, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis. She has also served on the Academic Advisory Council to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and as senior macroeconomist on the Council of Economic Advisers.

Topic: In a World of Rising Debt, How Can Caribbean Countries Stay Afloat?

Calendar of Events

Related Articles

• Linda Tesar is the Central Bank of Barbados' 6th Distinguished Visiting Fellow
• An Interview with Dr. Linda Tesar
• Caribbean Economic Forum Lauded

2018 – Professor Andrew K. Rose

Professor Rose is the Distinguished Teaching Fellow at The Haas School of Economic Analysis & Policy Group in Berkley, California. He holds a PhD in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); an MPhil from Nuffield College, University of Oxford; and a BA from Trinity College, University of Toronto at the Bernard T. Rocca, Jr. Chair in International Business & Trade.

Caribbean Economic Forum

Topic: “Looking Forward: How Caribbean Nations can Respond to Global Developments”

Calendar of Events

Related Articles

• Andrew K. Rose is the Central Bank of Barbados’ 5th Distinguished Visiting Fellow
• Professor Andrew K. Rose Talks Trade and the Economics Profession
• Do Countries Do Well By Doing Good?
• Are Crises Like Colds?

2017 – Dr. Patrick Honohan

Patrick Honohan is a former Governor of Central Bank of Ireland. He served as Governor and as a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank from September 2009 to November 2015. He joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics in March 2016 as a nonresident senior fellow.

Caribbean Economic Forum

Topic: “What Policy Course for a Small Open Economy in Today’s Global Macroeconomic Environment?”

Calendar of Events

Related Articles

• Former Central Bank of Ireland Governor is the Central Bank's Distinguished Visiting Fellow
• Patrick Honohan has One-on-One Interview with Acting Governor Haynes
• The Anatomy of a Financial Crisis and How to Recover from It
• We’re Living in a Low Interest Rate World

2016 – Dr. Simon Johnson

Simon Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is also head of the Global Economics and Management group, a member of the Executive Personnel Committee, and chair of the Sloan Fellows MBA Program Committee. He cofounded and currently leads the popular Global Entrepreneurship Lab (GLAB) course, working with startup companies around the world.

Caribbean Economic Forum

Topic: “What’s Next for the Global Economy?”

Calendar of Events

Related Articles

• Simon Johnson is the Central Bank’s 3rd Distinguished Visiting Fellow
• Dr. Simon Johnson Has One on One Interview with Governor Worrell
• Dr. Simon Johnson Meets with Public Sector Officers
• Simon Johnson Predicts "The Next Financial Meltdown"

2015 – Dr. Peter Blair Henry

Peter Blair Henry is Dean Emeritus of New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business. The youngest person to hold the position, he assumed the Deanship in January 2010 and joined the NYU Stern Faculty as the William R. Berkley Professor of Economics and Finance. An expert on the global economy, Henry led the external economics advisory group for then-Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008. Following the historic victory on November 4, Henry was chosen to lead the Presidential Transition Team's review of international lending agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Caribbean Economic Forum

Topic: 2^nd Caribbean Economic Forum

2014 – Dr. C. Fred Bergsten

C. Fred Bergsten, is the senior fellow and director emeritus of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), formerly the Institute for International Economics. He was PIIE’s founding director from 1981 through 2012. He was assistant secretary for international affairs of the US Treasury during 1977–81.

Caribbean Economic Forum

Topic: 1^st Caribbean Economic Forum

Related Articles

• Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Dr. C. Fred Bergsten, to Participate in First-Ever Caribbean Economic Forum
• Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Dr. C. Fred Bergsten, and Governor Dr.DeLisle Worrell discuss in a one-on-one- interview how to build a world class organization

The Central Bank instituted the programme in 2014 and fellows have included

• Dr. C. Fred Bergsten (2014)
• Dr. Peter Blair Henry (2015)
• Dr. Simon Johnson (2016)
• Dr. Patrick Honohan (2017)
• Professor Andrew K. Rose (2018)
• Dr. Linda Tesar (2019)