On January 27 – 2015, Dr. Karnit Flug, the Governor of the Bank of Israel spoke at JPC about “The Israeli Economy: Trends and Policies”. This is the second time Dr. Flug appears at JPC, much to the delight of the financial and general media. Dr. Flug said that in many parameters, like innovation and stability, the Israeli excells compared to other countries. One major challenge is cost of housing, which the Bank, together with the Israeli Government, is working to lower down, in part by opening the banking and mortgages to competition. Another challenge is participation in the workforce, but even there, Dr. Flug pointed to the sharp increase in Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) women going to work, a ration which is now getting close to the ratio of working women in general.
For the slides of the presentation click here.
Click here to watch the event.
About the speaker:
Dr. Karnit Flug was appointed Governor of the Bank of Israel by the President of Israel on November 13, 2013.
Dr. Flug previously served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel from July 2011, when she was appointed to the post by the Israeli Government. From July 2013 until November 2013, Dr. Flug served as Acting Governor of the Bank of Israel.
Dr. Flug received her M.A. (cum laude) in Economics from the Hebrew University in 1980, and her Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University in 1985.
In 1984, Dr. Flug joined the IMF as an economist. In 1988, she returned to Israel and joined the Research Department of the Bank of Israel, where she worked and published papers on topics including macroeconomics, the labor market and social policies. In 1994–96, while on leave from the Bank of Israel, Dr. Flug worked at the Inter-American Development Bank as a senior research economist. In 1997, upon return to the Bank of Israel, she was appointed Deputy Director of the Research Department, and in June 2001 she was appointed Director of the Research Department and a member of the Bank’s senior management—a position she held for 10 years.
Dr. Flug has served on a number of public and government committees, including the Committee on Increasing Competitiveness in the Economy, the Committee for Social and Economic Change (“the Trajtenberg Committee”), the Committee for the Defense Budget (“the Brodet Committee”), and the Committee to Study Raising the Retirement Age for Women.
