Dr. Abdur Chowdhury to Join Chicago Federal Reserve Academic Advisory Council

James Bianco (MU ’84) is the President of Bianco Research, an Arbor Research & Trading affiliate. Jim is a regular guest speaker in the AIM program and is an annual presenter at the AIM Forum. He is frequently seen as an expert commentator on CNBC and Bloomberg television and is widely acknowledged to be among the leading authorities on Federal Reserve policy, macro-economic trends, and interest rates. 

Jim Bianco

Mr. Bianco is a member of an advisory council at the Chicago Federal Reserve that regularly meets before the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings with the Dan Sullivan, Director of Research, and other Fed economists to discuss monetary policy.

Thanks to Jim's recommendation, Dr. Abdur Chowdhury (Chair of Marquette University’s Department of Economics) will be added to the list of participants at the Chicago Fed’s Academic Advisory Council meetings. The semi-annual events are held with Charlie Evans, the Chicago Fed’s President, and other economists from prominent Midwestern universities. The group holds a roundtable discussion of the economy and current monetary policy.

Dr. Chowdhury is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics at Marquette. His area of specialization is Open Economy Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy. As the Chief Economist for Capital Market Consultants in Milwaukee, he prepares quarterly and monthly commentaries on U.S. and global economic issues and challenges. He also provides regular advice on economic policy issues to a number of investment firms and financial institutions.

During 2003-2008, Dr. Chowdhury worked as the Chief Economist and Director, Economic Analysis Division at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva, Switzerland. The Economic Analysis Division (EAD) focused on analyzing macroeconomic trends in 56 countries in North America, Europe and the former Soviet Union and provided policy advice to the national policy makers in these countries. In his capacity as the Chief Economist, he coordinated, supervised as well as contributed to the publication of the Economic Survey of Europe, the flagship semi-annual publication of the Commission. Abdur regularly prepared background documents and briefing papers on a number of UN global issues including Financing for Development, Foreign Direct Investment, Millennium Development Goals, Sustainable Development, Human development indicators, etc.



Dr. Abdur Chowdhury



Prior to joining the United Nations, Dr. Chowdhury worked for 14 years as Professor of Economics at Marquette and he also held positions as a Faculty member at Johns Hopkins University and Bentley College. He also worked as a Senior Researcher at the Central Bank of Finland and Senior Fulbright Scholar in Thailand. He is widely published in international professional journals, newspapers and other media outlets on a variety of global macro and monetary issues.

Dr. Krause said, "I talked with Abdur this morning and is he very pleased to become involved with the Chicago Fed. Again, our thanks go out to Jim Bianco for recommending Dr. Chowdhury to the Chicago Federal Reserve. This is another example of the Marquette network working to serve the greater good."