Presenter Biography

Rand Ghayad, Ph.D., is an expert on a broad range of economic issues, including unemployment and job creation, debt management, political economy, investment reform, as well as economic challenges facing low income and fragile states. He brings more than 12 years of experience as an economist, holding positions in federal government, consulting, international organizations, and academia. Rand has been a faculty member at Harvard University since 2015. He also spent four years with The Brattle Group where he advised the U.S. government and multinational corporations on economic and financial matters, including anti-money laundering statutes and financial crimes. Between 2012 and 2013, Rand was part of an ongoing effort at the White House to develop best practices for hiring and recruiting the long-term unemployed. In 2014,  Rand advised the Prime Minister and Employment Policy Council of France on strategies to reduce the incidence of long-term unemployment. He also advised various governments on job-driven training programs, including most recently the UK, U.S., Qatar, and Kuwait. Rand began his career at the Brookings Institution working on unemployment and labor market reforms. He also served in various positions at the Federal Reserve Bank, International Labor Organization, MIT, and UNDP.

Rand Ghayad is the author of “The Jobless Trap”, a manuscript that has been widely cited in leading academic journals and media outlets, including the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. His work was also used and cited in congressional testimonies and conferences by Nobel Laureates, including Peter Diamond and Paul Krugman. Rand’s work uncovered new facts which offered a new explanation for why the unemployment rate did not go back to its normal level since the end of the Great Recession. Based on this research, President Obama issued several executive actions to give the long-term unemployed a fair shot. The findings from his work were also the backbone to several anti-discrimination laws enacted at the State level to protect job seekers against unemployment discrimination.

Rand holds a Ph.D. in Economics, three Master’s degrees in Finance, Public Policy, and Economics, and an undergraduate degree from Beirut. He held research and teaching positions at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston University, and Northeastern University.