Ex-MPC man joins Citi
A CONTROVERSIAL former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee is to become the chief economist of US banking giant Citigroup.
Willem Buiter, who is a professor at the London School of Economics, will take up his post in January, replacing Lewis Alexander, who left in March to advise the US Treasury.
Buiter, a widely published author on economic affairs in books, professional journals and newspapers, has sparked controversy with his strident views on the causes of the global financial crisis.
Buiter has criticised the US Federal Reserve and other central banks for mishandling the credit crunch and has warned of a long term loss of faith in the US dollar.
In 2008, he told the Fed that it was too close to Wall Street and paid too much attention to the concerns of big US financial institutions.