Paul Romer

Non-Resident Fellow
Education: B.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago
Media Contact: Ben Edwards

One of the leading growth economists of our time, as well as an activist and entrepreneur, Paul Romer was named one of America's 25 most influential people by Time magazine in 1997.  In addition to being a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development, Romer is a senior fellow in the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He has taught at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, UC Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and the University of Rochester. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and received the Recktenwald Prize in Economics. Romer earned a B.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. He is the founder of www.CharterCities.org.

Newest Popular CGD Publications Events Multimedia Selected Works
  • TED Talk: Paul Romer's Radical Idea: Charter Cities - Mar 3, 2010
    Why does one country experience economic success while another country from the same region lags behind? In this TED Talk, CGD nonresident fellow Paul Romer argued that the successful country made a set of decisions that lead to their prosperity. The challenge arises when trying to test which decisions promote development and which decisions hinder it. Romer proposes what he calls “charter cities,” geographical zones governed by a coalition of nations collaborating to create prosperous cities.
  • Technologies, Rules, and Progress: The Case for Charter Cities - Mar 3, 2010
    Paul Romer argues that the principal constraint to raising living standards in this century will come neither from scarce resources nor limited technologies; rather, it will come from our limited capacity to discover and implement new rules. He suggests a new type of development policy: chartering new cities to create centers of growth and prosperity within developing countries.
  • Technologies, Rules, and Progress: The Case for Charter Cities - Mar 3, 2010
    Paul Romer argues that the principal constraint to raising living standards in this century will come neither from scarce resources nor limited technologies; rather, it will come from our limited capacity to discover and implement new rules. He suggests a new type of development policy: chartering new cities to create centers of growth and prosperity within developing countries.
  • TED Talk: Paul Romer's Radical Idea: Charter Cities - Mar 3, 2010
    Why does one country experience economic success while another country from the same region lags behind? In this TED Talk, CGD nonresident fellow Paul Romer argued that the successful country made a set of decisions that lead to their prosperity. The challenge arises when trying to test which decisions promote development and which decisions hinder it. Romer proposes what he calls “charter cities,” geographical zones governed by a coalition of nations collaborating to create prosperous cities.
  • Technologies, Rules, and Progress: The Case for Charter Cities - Mar 3, 2010
    Paul Romer argues that the principal constraint to raising living standards in this century will come neither from scarce resources nor limited technologies; rather, it will come from our limited capacity to discover and implement new rules. He suggests a new type of development policy: chartering new cities to create centers of growth and prosperity within developing countries.
  • A New Way to Promote Economic Growth: Charter Cities - Mar 15, 2010

    CGD non-resident fellow Paul Romer is a professor at Stanford University and is one of the leading growth economists of our time. He will discuss his idea for a profoundly new way to reduce poverty in the developing world: chartering new cities to create centers of growth and prosperity within developing countries. These cities let people voluntarily move to a place with rules that provide security, economic opportunity, and improved quality of life. Charter cities give leaders more options for improving governance and investors more opportunities to finance socially beneficial infrastructure projects. They also harness the forces that have been among the most successful at reducing poverty in developing countries over the past few decades.

  • TED Talk: Paul Romer's Radical Idea: Charter Cities - Mar 3, 2010
    Why does one country experience economic success while another country from the same region lags behind? In this TED Talk, CGD nonresident fellow Paul Romer argued that the successful country made a set of decisions that lead to their prosperity. The challenge arises when trying to test which decisions promote development and which decisions hinder it. Romer proposes what he calls “charter cities,” geographical zones governed by a coalition of nations collaborating to create prosperous cities.

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