Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Benjamin Hav Mitra-Kahn

Nationality: Danish

Languages: Fluent: English, Danish, Norwegian; Intermediate: German, Swedish

Research Interests: History of economics, development economics, intellectual property, the economy.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Economics; City University London
Thesis: “Redefining the Economy: A history of economics and national accounting”
 Awarded: Winner of University-wide Ph.D. scholarship competition

Ph.D. candidate in Economics; New School for Social Research, New York
Thesis: “Development Economics and empirical models: Computable General Equilibrium and Gender inequality”
 Awarded: New School University Fellowship

M.Sc. Development Economics; SOAS, University of London
B.Sc. Economics (Hons); Royal Holloway University of London

EXPERIENCE

Chief Economist, IP Australia
November 2012 – …
I am the chief economist for the Australian Government’s Intellectual Property Office, IP Australia, covering the economics of IP and policy issues across  patents, trade marks, designs and plant breeders rights.

Economic Advisor, UK Intellectual Property Office
October 2009 – October 2012
I was the economic advisor for the UK Government’s Intellectual Property Office, responsible for economic analysis, commissioning economic research, internal management structures and policy advice across the IPO areas of responsibility: Patents, Trade marks, Designs and Copyright.

Lecturing Applied Macroeconomics, City University
September 2006 – September 2009
Between 2006 and 2009 I lectured part of “Topics in Applied Macroeconomics” course (code EC1004) at City University London. The teaching was primarily about national accounting, growth, development, history of thought and financial institutions.

Director, Pelikahn Ltd.
August 2007 – May 2009
I was the  director responsible for finance at Pelikahn Ltd, which was primarily focused on Petroleum, Energy, Logistics and foreign direct Investment. In the company’s capacity I have been involved in a range of transactions across these sectors including, but not limited to, arranging petro-energy shipping, buying, selling and negotiating transactions, equity raising, introductions and market reports particularly for  UK, Scandinavia and India.

Founder, Allied Translations and Interpretations Ltd.
March 2002 – June 2006
Founder of Allied Translation and Interpretation, which offered a range of translation services for Scandinavian, UK and US clients. My responsibilities included the day-to-day management of the company, client acquisition, managing the teams of translators which would be involved on each project, and ensure the final quality of the work.

PAPERS

“Updating the value of UK Copyright Investment.” (with Jonathan Haskel and Peter Goodridge); Intellectual Property Office publication 2012/12, June 2012, http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ipresearch-ukinvestment-201206.pdf

“Copyright, Evidence and Lobbynomics: The world after the UK’s Hargreaves Review” Review of Economic Research on Copyright Issues 8(2), pp: 65-100, Dec. 2011: Link

“Approaches to Evidence on IPRs, Competition and Innovation.” (with T. Clayton) A supporting document for the Hargreaves Review of IP – Digital Opportunities, May 2011: www.ipo.gov.uk/ipreview-doc-g.pdf

“Empirical and Exciting: Theories of Economic Growth in Britain 1715-43.” Presented at ‘History of Economics Society Annual Conference’, June 2009, Denver.

“Keynes vs. Kuznets; the battle for the soul of National Income.” Presented at ‘History of Recent Economics Conference’, June 2009, Antwerp. Revision Spring 2010 target: Journal of the History of Economic Thought

Redefining the Economy: A History of Economics and National Accounting. Ph.D. Thesis at City University London, submitted 2009, examined and accepted 2011

“Gender wage-gaps and growth: The case of semi-industrial countries reconsidered” (with T. Mitra-Kahn). Feminist Economics, Revised & Re-submitted December 2008

“Good Research and ‘Selling it’ Matters.” New School Economic Review 3(1) Winter 2008: 3-4

“If it aint broke, don’t fix it… Post Autism and Political Correctness.” Post-Autistic Economic Review 47(3) October 2008, pp. 265-267, re-printed in Adbusters 85(sep/oct 2009)

“Defining Economic Growth in the 18th Century.” Presented at ‘History of Economics Society Annual Conference’, June 2008, Toronto

“Gender wage-gaps and growth: What goes up must come down” (with T. Mitra-Kahn). Presented at ‘United Nations Inequality, Development & Growth Workshop’, May 2008, New York

“Debunking the Myths of Computable General Equilibrium Models.” Schwarz Center for Economic Policy Analysis Working Paper 2008-01 (March)

“The Development Issue – An Introduction.” New School Economic Review 2(1) Fall 2007: 3-4

“Debunking the Myths surrounding Computable General Equilibrium Models.” Presented at ‘ICAPE tri-annual conference’, June 2007, Salt Lake City

“Understanding National Accounting in Hindsight.” Presented at the ‘History of Economics Society Annual Conference’, June 2007, Washington D.C.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

“The Brits who counted Before Adam Smith.” Presentation at ‘History of Economics Society Annual Conference’, June 2009, Denver.

“Still standing on the table: The New Lecturer’s Workshop, Part Deux.”
UK Economics Network Lecturer Resources, April 2009

“The IMF’s Rhetorical U-turn” (Newspaper op-ed). The Mint – Official Indian Partner to the Wall Street Journal, January 1, 2009

“Public Expenditure Composition and Fiscal Performance in Central and Eastern uropean Countries” (with E. Hedger). Report to the Serbian Finance Ministry, for Overseas Development Institute, November 2008

“The New Lecturers Workshop: A win-win situation for economists” UK Economics Network Lecturer Resources, October 2008; re-printed Economics Network Newsletter 12(winter 2008): 8-9

AWARDS and HONOURS

-Best Lecturer Nomination, City University Student Voice Awards (May 2009)
-Young Scholar Award, History of Economics Society (Jun. 2008)
-Young Scholar Award, International Confederation of Associations for Pluralism in Economics (ICAPE) Tri-Annual Conference (Jun. 2007)
-Young Scholar Award, History of Economics Society (Jun. 2007)
-University-wide Ph.D. Scholarship Competition winner, City University (Oct. 2006)
-University Fellowship award, New School for Social Research (Aug. 2005)

GRANTS

-UK Economics Network: “FAME Trials: Teaching with experiments” (Jan. 2009)
-Overseas Development Institute: “Public Expenditure Composition and Fiscal Performance in Central and Eastern European Countries” (Oct. 2008)
-UK Economics Network: “Reflections on Teaching” (Sep. 2008)
-Schwarz Center for Economic Policy Analysis: “Debunking the Myths of Computable General Equilibrium Models” (Feb. 2008)

OTHER ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES

Blogger: History of Economics Playground, 2008-date
blog on the history of thought, since 2011 part of George Soros’s Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)

Chief Editor: New School Economic Review, 2006 – 2011
On-line peer-reviewed student economics journal; @ http://www.NewSchoolJournal.com

Member: History of Economics Society; (honorary member 2006-08) 2006 – date

Member: Royal Economic Society; 2012 – date

Fieldworker, Central Statistical Office, Gov’t of India, New Delhi, Fall 2007
Data collection and working with the national accounting division

Conference Organiser: “Has Economics Failed Development?”, April 2006
New York Conference with 100+ attendance from UN, World Bank & Academia