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Copenhagen Consensus Center

The Eminent Panel

Kesner Pharel is a prominent economist, playing a central role in the dissemination and sensitization of economic issues, especially matters concerning public finance, via his weekly commentary on RadioTele Metropole and innumerable speaking engagements. He began his career at the Central Bank of Haiti and then went on to found the consultancy firm, Group Croissance, in 1994, of which he is the chairman and CEO. Pharel works closely with public institutions, municipal administrations in particular on budgeting and development planning. Pharel attended George Washington University (USA), obtaining Bachelors degrees in Economics and Political Science. He has a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University (USA), a Masters in Sports Administration from the University of Lyon (France). He also completed the Executive program at the Harvard Institute for International Development in the privatization of public enterprises, public budgetary processes, macroeconomic stabilization policies, and the management and evaluation of investment projects. Pharel also for many years lectured on money and banking at the State University of Haiti and at Quisqueya University.

Read Kesner Pharel’s eminent opinion on Haïti Priorise’s top solution for Haiti.  


Ketleen Florestal has worked since 2010 at the World Bank Group as an Advisor to the Executive Director for Haiti. She also represents Haiti at the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Board of Executive Directors. Recently she occupied the function of LAC Borrower Representative in the IDA18 Negotiations. Previously, she served as a co-focal point for Haiti for the G7+ grouping of 20 countries in fragile situations. Ms. Florestal holds an MIA from Columbia University in Economic Policy Management and, and an MA from Johns Hopkins University in Applied Economics. She also studied law at the State University of Haiti, interned for two years in a private law firm and, briefly served as chief of staff of the Minister of Justice of Haiti in 1993. She holds a BA in Economics from Princeton University.

Before working at the World Bank, she served as senior economist for Haiti and the Bahamas at the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB). Previously she worked as an Advisor to the Executive Director for Haiti at the IMF. She has served in many capacities in the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Haiti including member and coordinator of the Minister’s technical staff, and held for a number of years the position of Head of the Department of Credit management in the Central Bank of Haiti (BRH). She has also taught topics in macro-economics and international economics in two Universities in Haiti. She served during two years as an elected member of the Board of the Haitian Association of Economists.

Read Ketleen Florestal’S eminent opinion on Haïti Priorise’s top solution for Haiti.  


Philomé Joseph Raymond Magloire specializes in private sector and industrial economics, having been a member of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Franco-Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Association of Haitian Industries, and the Association of Haitian Economists. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business and an MBA from Columbia University (USA) and has taught at Quisqueya University in Haiti, the University of Puerto Rico, and the City University of New York. A respected economist, he has worked at prestigious international development institutions; of note, the United Nations and the InterAmerican Development Bank. He served for many years on the board of directors of the Banque de L’Union Haitienne, until his appointment as the Governor of the Haitian Central Bank from 2004 to 2007 and remains a member of its advisory council on monetary policy. In 2009, in recognition of his achievements, Magloire was entrusted with the position of Extraordinary Ambassador, advancing Haitian interests in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, and the European Union


Vernon L. Smith was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002 for his groundbreaking work in experimental economics. Dr. Smith has joint appointments with the Argyros School of Business & Economics and the Fowler School of Law, and he is part of a team that will create and run the new Economic Science Institute at Chapman.

Dr. Smith has authored or co-authored more than 300 articles and books on capital theory, finance, natural resource economics and experimental economics. He serves or has served on the board of editors of the American Economic Review, The Cato Journal, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Science, Economic Theory, Economic Design, Games and Economic Behavior, and the Journal of Economic Methodology. He is past president of the Public Choice Society, the Economic Science Association, the Western Economic Association and the Association for Private Enterprise Education. Previous faculty appointments include the University of Arizona, Purdue University, Brown University, the University of Massachusetts, and George Mason University, where he was a Professor of Economics and Law prior to joining the faculty at Chapman University. Dr. Smith has been a Ford Foundation Fellow, Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at the California Institute of Technology.

Read Vernon L. Smith’s eminent opinion on Haïti Priorise’s top solution for Haiti.  

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