Rob Wright, Canada’s Deputy Minister of Finance, announced the appointment of Chris Ragan as the 2009-2010 Clifford Clark Visiting Economist in the Department of Finance, effective Jan. 5, 2009.
The post, established in 1983, honours the late Dr. Clifford Clark, who served as Deputy Minister of Finance from 1932 until his death in 1952. Occupants of the position advise the Department on emerging economic issues and take part in policy development at the highest level. They are recruited from the ranks of prominent Canadian professionals with proven expertise in economic, financial and monetary issues in the business and academic communities.
Ragan has been a professor in the Department of Economics since 1989 and has been a member of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council since 2003. During 2004-05, he served as the Special Advisor to the Governor of the Bank of Canada, bringing his perspective to monetary policy discussions. He was also a visiting economist at the Bank of Canada between 1996 and 1997.
Ragan’s extensive research has focused on the role of economic policy, specifically the objectives and conduct of monetary policy. He has published several articles in such notable academic journals as Economica, Labour Economics, Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Public Policy, Canadian Business Economics, and Policy Options.
He is the co-author with Richard Lipsey of Economics (13th Edition), the most widely used introductory economics textbook in Canada. He is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of World Economic Affairs, and for two years had a regular column in National Post Business.
Ragan is slated to return to McGill in June 2010, once his tenure in the Department of Finance is completed.