Erik S. Reinert

Erik Steenfeldt Reinert
Born	(1949-02-15) 15 February 1949 Oslo, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Citizenship	Norway
Academic career
Field	Development Economics Economic History
Institution	Tallinn University of Technology
Alma mater	University of St. Gallen (B.A.) Harvard University (M.B.A.) Cornell University (Ph.D)
Influences	Friedrich List Thorstein Veblen Ragnar Nurkse Joseph A. Schumpeter Gunnar Myrdal John Maynard Keynes
Awards	Gunnar Myrdal Prize
Information at IDEAS / RePEc

Erik Steenfeldt Reinert (born 15 February 1949) is a Norwegian economist, with development economics and economic history as his specialties.

Biography

Reinert was born in Oslo, attended the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland (where he studied economics), Harvard University (MBA), and Cornell University (Ph.D.). Already during his studies, he spent time in Latin America, working with a community development project in the Peruvian Andes, as well as in private industry. In 1972 he founded and later developed a small industrial firm, Matherson-Selig, later shortened to Matherson SpA,(color sampling to the paint and automotive industries) in Bergamo, Italy. Adding production plants also in Norway and Finland, the company had become the largest of its kind in Europe when Reinert sold it in 1991.

Reinert then worked for the STEP group in Oslo (1991–1995) and later became Director of Research of the Norsk Investorforum, a think tank set up by large Norwegian corporations (1995–2000). He also held a part-time position at The Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), a research institution established by the University of Oslo. In 2000, he became the Executive Chairman of The Other Canon Foundation, a small center and network for heterodox economics research. Since 2004, he is Professor of Technology Governance and Development Strategies at the Tallinn University of Technology in Tallinn, Estonia. He lectures in five languages.

Reinert’s research interests and publications focus around the theory of uneven development and the history of economic thought and policy. As a consultant, Reinert's emphasis is on industrial and economic policy, the preconditions and management of innovations, and the relations between financial and production capital.

Reinert’s ideas are controversial in libertarian and neoliberal circles in Norway, but also in Marxist ones. Representatives of those views, accordingly, have challenged his arguments in the daily press and sparked a controversy about national economic development in Norway. His most recent English-language book, How Rich Countries Got Rich ... and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor (2007), has had a similarly discussion-raising effect internationally, as it has been widely noted, reviewed, and discussed as well. While some reviews, like those in Prospect Magazine and The Economist, were dismissive. many – including those from the developing countries – were positive and even those in publications generally opposed to Reinert’s framework, such as by Martin Wolf in the Financial Times, have been critical yet called the book an important contribution to the debate. By now, the book is out in Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, Russian, and Estonian. The Norwegian original has also been translated to Serbo-Croatian and published by Cigoja stampa in Serbia.

In 2008, Reinert received the annual Gunnar Myrdal Prize as best monograph in evolutionary political economy, and in 2010 he was the only Norwegian economist invited to the Cambridge opening conference of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, financed by George Soros.

Selected publications

• Globalization, Economic Development and Inequality: An Alternative Perspective (2004), ed. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
• Global Økonomi. Hvordan de rike ble rike og hvorfor fattige blir fattigere (Global Economy. How the rich got rich and why the poor get poorer) (2004). Oslo: Spartacus. Serbian translation (2006) Belgrade: Cigoja.
• The Origins of Economic Development. How Schools of Economic Thought have Addressed Development (2005), co-edited with KS Jomo. London: Zed / New Delhi: Tulika.
• How Rich Countries Got Rich ... and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor (2007), London: Constable.
• Techno-Economic Paradigms: Essays in Honour of Carlota Perez (2009), co-ed. London: Anthem.
• Ragnar Nurkse (1907–2007): Classical Development Economics and its Relevance for Today (2009), co-ed. London: Anthem.
• Ragnar Nurkse: Trade and Development (2009), co-ed. London: Anthem.

Downloadable recent working papers

• "The Qualitative Shift in European Integration: Towards Permanent Wage Pressures and a 'Latin-Americanization' of Europe?" (with Rainer Kattel), PRAXIS Working Paper No. 17/2004.
• "Development and Social Goals: Balancing Aid and Development to Prevent 'Welfare Colonialism'", United Nation Department of Economic and Social Affairs, DESA Working Paper No. 14. 2006. Portuguese translation in Oikos. Revista de Economia Heterodoxa 4(4), pp. 45–67. 2005.
• "Evolutionary Economics, Classical Development Economics, and the History of Economic Policy: A Plea for Theorizing by Inclusion", Working Papers in Technology Governance and Economic Dynamics no. 1, The Other Canon Foundation; Tallinn University of Technology. 2006.
• The Relevance of Ragnar Nurkse and Classical Development Economics, with Rainer Kattel and Jan A. Kregel. Working Papers in Technology Governance and Economic Dynamics no. 21; The Other Canon Foundation, Tallinn University of Technology. March 2009.
• "The Terrible Simplifers: Common Origins of Financial Crises and Persistent Poverty in Economic Theory and the new '1848 Moment'", DESA Working Paper No. 88, United Nations. December 2009.
• "Neo-classical economics: A trail of economic destruction since the 1970s", RWER (60), pp. 2–17. 2012.

External links

• Profile on Other Canon website
• website from where to download some of Reinert's articles