Background
KAY, John was born on August 3, 1948 in Edinburgh. Son of James Kay and Allison Kay.
economist university professor
KAY, John was born on August 3, 1948 in Edinburgh. Son of James Kay and Allison Kay.
Born in Edinburgh, Kay was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh University, and Nuffield College, Oxford. He was the first director of Oxford"s Said Business School from 1997 to 1999, and has written at some length as to why he chose to resign after only two years.
He is a visiting Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and has been a fellow of Street John"s College, Oxford, since 1970. He lectured in economics at Oxford from 1971 to 1978. In 1979, Kay became Research Director and the Director of the independent think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
In 1986 he became a professor at the London Business School and founded London Economics, a consultancy firm.
He has served as a director of Halifax plc and of several investment companies. Kay (2003), addressed to non-economists, attempts to answer what Robert Lucas has called the most exciting economic question: across the globe, why are so few rich and so many poor? He is a regular editorial contributor to the Financial Times, where he has also had a weekly column since 1995.
He sits on the European Advisory Board of Princeton University Press. In 2012 he presented a substantial report to the British government on reform of the equity market, which suggested that the stockmarket exists to provide companies with equity capital and to give savers a stake in economic growth.
Over time that simple truth has been forgotten.
Kay suggested a series of reforms which he hoped would correct some problems with stock markets. Some critics suggested his analysis of the problem was better than his proposed solution. Kay was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to economics.
Kay warned that using Gross Domestic Product as a measure fails to reveal how much money bypasses locals by going straight to foreign companies and drew comparisons with Ireland, which appeared "better off" than it actually was before economic meltdown.
Kay has also served as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers to the First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2011.
Married Deborah Freeman in 1986.