Xavier Sala-i-Martin

Xavier Sala-i-Martin is Professor of Economics at Columbia University in New York and the Chief Economic Advisor to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

A respected economist, Sala-i-Martin is also a consultant to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, a member of the Counseling Board of Telefonica Catalunya, and an associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Prior to joining Columbia University, Sala-i-Martin has also taught economics at Yale and he was a research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Research (CEPR) in London. He studied economics in Spain before completing his education at Harvard University in the US. He has received numerous awards including the award for Best Economist in Spain and Latin America by the Bank of Spain and best Health Economist in the World by the International Health Economics Organization.

With a career spent both teaching and researching world economics, Sala-i-Martin is in the privileged position to be able to offer decision makers essential information crucial for companies wishing to do business in today's volatile markets. As the chief economic advisor to the World Economic Forum, he is the author and intellectual father of the prestigious Global Competitiveness Index, published annually in the Global Competitiveness Report. The index ranks the competitiveness of all the countries in the world and recommends competitiveness strategies to their decision makers. Professor Sala-i-Martin's GCI is the most closely followed index on global economic and business competitiveness in the world. Governments and business leaders around the planet use the index to evaluate and design the future competitiveness policies of their countries.

Between 2003 and 2010, Sala-i-Martin was a member of the board and president of the economics commission of FC Barcelona and, therefore, contributed to the creation of what many experts consider the best soccer team ever assembled. In 2009, FC Barcelona won all six championships in which it participated. No other team in the world has ever accomplished such a feat.

An experienced teacher, he clearly explains and puts across complex ideas in an easy to understand format. With a reputation for humorous and enlightening presentations, Sala-i-Martin is in great demand as a conference speaker at leading financial events around the world.