|
}}
'''John Chown, ([http://www.johnchown.co.uk www.johnchown.co.uk])''' a monetary economist and international tax specialist with a particular interest in currency and financial markets,. He is nowthe working independentlyfounder of the professionalfirm firm Chown Dewhurst LLP he founded,.<ref>http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2011/08/government-warned-of-valuation-risk-to-bank-sale/</ref> drawing on his very broad experience and wide connections in many countries. He now enjoys working on broad issues of inter-disciplinary and international issues, on diagnosing the 'problem behind the problem' and training younger people who can work on the details and sign off on any proposals.
==Early life and education==
Educated at Gordonstoun and Selwyn College Cambridge, he won the [[Adam Smith Prize]] for a dissertation on fixed versus floating exchange rates, and is an Honorary Fellow of the College. He made his career and reputation in international tax and is a co-founder of the [http://www.ifs.org.uk Institute for Fiscal Studies].<ref>http://www.aplaceinthesun.com/news/feature/tabid/131/EntryId/194/page/1/Higher-taxes-could-drive-more-Brits-abroad.aspx</ref> Recent events (and the freeing up of his time) have brought him back to his roots as an economist, and where these two subjects overlap. Recent work, discussed in more detail below, includes writing and speaking about the implications of the financial crisis with special reference to the future of the Eurozone, the EU proposal for a Financial Transactions Tax and the development of capital markets in transitional and emerging economies.
Chown was educated at Gordonstoun and Selwyn College Cambridge, where he won the [[Adam Smith Prize]] for a dissertation on fixed versus floating exchange rates, and is an Honorary Fellow of the College.
Secretary to the International Tax Specialist Group, and an active member of the [[Political Economy Club]], The European Government Business Relations Council (the ”Ad Hoc Council”), the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, the Russo British Chamber of Commerce, The Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) – where he is on the Advisory Council)and several other organisations. ▼
Chown writes and speaks about the implications of the financial crisis with special reference to the future of the Eurozone, the EU proposal for a Financial Transactions Tax and the development of capital markets in transitional and emerging economies.
He is also involved in musical charities as Honorary Financial Adviser to the Royal Society of Musicians, and on the Committees of the London Handel Society and the Cambridge Handel Opera Group. ▼
==Career==
== Activities and Publications ==
▲SecretaryChown is a co-founder of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.<ref>[http://www.aplaceinthesun.com/news/feature/tabid/131/EntryId/194/page/1/Higher-taxes-could-drive-more-Brits-abroad.aspx "Higher taxes could drive more Brits abroad"]. ''A Place in the Sun''.</ref> In 2013 he is secretary to the International Tax Specialist Group, and an active member of the [[Political Economy Club]], The European Government Business Relations Council (the ”Ad Hoc Council”), the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, the Russo British Chamber of Commerce, The Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) – where he is on the Advisory Council)and several other organisations.
▲HeChown is also involved in musical charities as Honorary Financial Adviser to the Royal Society of Musicians, and on the Committees of the London Handel Society and the Cambridge Handel Opera Group.
John takes an active role in public policy matters both here and abroad, participating in Ad Hoc Council meetings in Moscow (June), Warsaw (October) and Brussels March 2013. (Next meetings in Berlin and Rome). His International Tax Specialist Group met in Singapore in October, one of the best we have had, with 54 participants. We are hosting and organising the next meeting in London in late October 2013. Recent publications and more details of activities are given below by topics.
== Tax Policy ==
HeChown has always been active ina public policy as an adviser to Conservative Chancellors and Shadow Chancellors, commenting on European tax harmonisation proposals and visiting Canada, Australia, New Zealand as an international adviser on their respective tax reforms. After the collapse of Communism, he decided to help theseadvised transitional countries with the development of their capital markets. He began with five major projects in Russia as the key specialistand on the taxation of financial markets, paidunder forthe andumbrella supported byof the splendidly organised, pre-Clare Short, Know How Fund. He has continued to do advisory work in Russia, including a World Bank project of the development of capital markets and has been working, more recently with Jackie Newbury, on major projects in Mongolia and Thailand, and taking an active part in City of London missions.
== The Future of EMU ==
Given the coalition government policy of spending 0.7% on international aid, he has been trying, gently, to suggest that we could get much better value for a small part of this budget by bringing back the highly efficient procedures of the Know-How Fund. The Department for International Development (DFID) is not enthusiastic as its priority is to find projects to fill up budget. (William Easterly, former World Bank economist, asking why so much spent on international aid has been wasted, points out that the answer is that the providers of funds continue to prefer `planners’ to the more efficient 'searchers'.)
Chown was an active member of Christopher Johnson’s Association of Monetary Union in Europe. He is the author of "A History of Monetary Unions" (Routledge 2003), and has contributed a chapter, "Lessons of Monetary History", to the new IEA study, "The Euro – the Beginning, the Middle … and the End?" (April 2013) and reviewed for Central Banking, Harold James "Making the European Monetary Union" (February 2013). Two articles and several other reviews in Central Banking deal more generally with the financial crisis. His article "Conflicts of Interest and Systemic Risk" Central Banking, November 2010, discusses improper (and therefore unsustainable) profits made by banks, and their potential threat to financial stability, and is a follow-up to an earlier article in November 2009 ,"Towards a New Banking System".
== The Future of EMU and the financial crisis generally ==
This is a long-standing interest which has now become a major preoccupation. John Chown was an active member of Christopher Johnson’s Association of Monetary Union in Europe and his main role was to draw attention to problems in the hope that they could be solved but the 1995 Green Paper made it clear that this was not to be. The author of "A History of Monetary Unions" (Routledge 2003) he has contributed extensively to more recent discussions, including a Bloomberg panel. He has a chapter "Lessons of Monetary History" in the new IEA study, "The Euro – the Beginning, the Middle … and the End?" (April 2013) and reviewed for Central Banking, Harold James "Making the European Monetary Union" (February 2013). Having had access to the pre 1993 archives, he explains that there were then very detailed discussions of precisely the issues neglected by those who founded and those now trying to rescue the Eurozone. Two articles and several other reviews in Central Banking deal more generally with the financial crisis.
== Articles ==
"Conflicts of Interest and Systemic Risk"; John Chown, Central Banking, November 2010.
This explains that central bankers should be aware that improper (and therefore unsustainable) profits made by banks potentially present a threat to financial stability
This was specifically requested by the editor following the November 2009 Central Banking article, Towards a New Banking System.
== Books ==
| 