Augusto Lopez-Claros is the Director of the Global Indicators Department at the World Bank Group. Previously he was Chief Economist and Director of the Global Competitiveness Program at the World Economic Forum in Geneva. Before joining the Forum, he spent several years in the financial sector in London, with a particular focus on emerging markets and transition economies. During the 1990s he served as the IMF’s Resident Representative in Russia. He has written and lectured extensively on a wide range of topics. He was educated in England (Cambridge) and the United States, receiving a Ph.D in Economics from Duke University.