Posted by Christian Schiller
I would like to alert the readers of the PFM Blog to a new blog, the "Thinking about fiscal policy" Blog which was created by Peter Heller a few weeks ago. Peter was my first Deputy Division Chief when I joined the Fund in the early 80s. I worked for him in various positions and we also published together.
One moment which I remember in particular was when we were sitting together in the Thomas church in the city of Leipzig, listening to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach being played in the church where Bach had worked as a cantor and music director for 27 years until his death in 1750. Peter was in Leipzig for a presentation of his book “Who Will Pay---Coping with Aging Societies, Climate Change, and Other Long-Term Fiscal Challenges” (2003). At the presentation in the afternoon, the place was packed--not only because in the East it was still not as common as in other parts of Germany to be able to listen to an American world class economist, but also because his talks are always very insightful and thought provoking.
Over more than a quarter of a century, he has substantially contributed to the thinking of the IMF in the public finance area, including research, surveillance, program design and implementation as well as technical assistance.
Peter retired from the Fund in 2006. He is presently Senior Adjunct Professor of International Economics at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University in Washington. He also teaches at the Graduate School of Governance of the University of Maastricht.
I am glad that he now has created his own blog so we can all benefit from his thoughtful and always very creative thinking. I am looking forward to his postings.
